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ALCIPHRON, 



OR THE 



MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 



IN SEVEN DIALOGUES, 



CONTAINING AN APOLOGY FOR THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION, AGAINST THOSE 
WHO ARE CALLED FREE-THINKERS. 



By GEORGE BERKLEY, d. d. 

Author of a Treatife concerning the principles of Human Knowledge, and 'various 
other Wort i, chief y in defence of Chrifianity, againf Athe'fs and Infidds. 



They have forfaken me the Fountain of living waters, and hewed them out ciftercs, 
broken citterns, that can hold no water. Jerem. u. 13. 

Sin mcrtuus, ut quidam rr.inuti Philofophi cenl'ent, nihil fcntiam, non verew ne hunc 
- errorem meum mortui Philofophi irrideant. Cicero. 

THE FIRST AMERICAN, FROM THE FOURTH LONDON ED!TI0?7, 






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CHARACTER OF THE WORK. 

THE MINUTE PHILOSOPHER is an able defence of Divine Revelation. The wri- 
ter is the celebrated BERKLEY, Biihop of Cloyne ; univerfally confidered as one of the 
firft Philofophers, who have appeared in any age, or country. For the difcufiion of this 
fubject he was better qualified than almoft any other man, by his pre-eminent talents, 
both natural and acquired ; particularly by his great learning and fingular powers of 
reafoning. This work Is an illuftrious proof of thofc talents, and may be confidered as 
a ftore-houfe, whence many fucceeding writers have drawn their materials, and their 
arguments. The Minute Philofopher coniifls of a feries of dialogues, involving moil 
of the important topics in the debate between Chriftians and Infidels ; the principal 
arguments by which Chriftianity is defended, and the principal objections with which 
it has been oppoi'ed. The reafoning is clear, found, and conclufive ; and has never 
been anfwered. The characters of the difputants are well chofen, and ably fupported ; 
and their converfation is fpirited and natural. The work is of courfe highly entertain- 
ing, as well as convincing. In the character of Euphranor, particularly, the writer has 
given, perhaps, the belt example of the Socratic manner cf reafoning, which can be 
found. Warton obferves, that the club, compofed of Pope, Swift, BoUngbroke, &c. re- 
garded this work, in fpite of the prejudices of fome of them, as a maifterly performance ; 
not indeed, when firft prefented to them, for they did not underitaud it ; but afterwards, 
when thoroughly explained by its Author, who knew more of this, and moit other 
moral iiibjecls, than all of them united. 

In a word, The Minute Philofopher may be confidently recommended, as a perform- 
ance of the firft merit, to all, who' love to read the beft reafonings, on the moil im- 
portant fubje&s. 

TIMOTHY DWIGHT. 



Yale College, 1 



Dec. 23, i8oz. 

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ADVERTISEMENT- 



T 



HE Author's defign being to confider the free- 
thinker in the various lights of atheift, libertine, enthufi- 
aft, fcomer, critic, metaphyfician, fatalift, and fceptic, it 
muft not therefore be imagined, that every one of thefe 
characters agrees with every individual free-thinker, no 
more being implied, than that each part agrees with fome 
or other of the feci. There may poffibly be a reader who 
fhall think the character of atheift agrees with none : But 
though it hath been often faid, there is no fiich thing as a 
fpeculative atheift ; yet we muft allow, there are feveral 
atheifts who pretend to fpeculation. This the author 
knows to be true ; and is well allured, that one of the mod 
noted writers againft chriftianity in our times, declared he 
had found out a demonftration againft the being of a God. 
And he doubts not, whoever will be at the pains to inform 
himfelf, by a general conversation, as well as books, of the 
principles and tenets of our modern free-thinkers, will fee 
too much caufe to be perfuaded that nothing in the enfu- 
ing characters is beyond the life. 

As the author hath not confined himfelf to write againft 
books alone, fo he thinks it necefiary to make this decla- 
ration. It muft not therefore be thought, that authors 
are mifreprefented, if every notion of Akiphroh or Lyficles 



ADVERTISEMENT. 

is not found precifely in them. A gentleman, in private 
conference, may be fuppofed to fpeak plainer than others 
write, to improve on their hints, and draw conclufions 
from their principles. 

Whatever they pretend, it is the author's opinion, that 
all thofe who write either explicitly or by infinuation 
againft the dignity, freedom, and immortality of the hu- 
man foul, may fo far forth be juftly faid to unhinge the 
principles of morality, and deftroy the means of making, 
men reasonably virtuous. Much is to be apprehended 
from that quarter againft the interefts of virtue. Wheth- 
er the apprehenfion of a certain admired writer,* that the 
caufe of virtue is likely to fuffer lefs from its witty antago- 
nifts, than from its tender nurfes, who are apt to overlay 
it, and kill it with excefs of care and cherifhing, and make 
it a mercenary thing by talking fo much of its rewards : 
whether, I fay, this apprehenfion be fo well founded, the 
reader may determine. 

* Jffiy on the freedom of wit and humor ', Part II, Se<& 3. 



THE 



CONTENTS. 



.<„<..<..<. <©>....<<®>>..»<0>.».»» 



The FIRST DIALOGUE. 

SECT. I. Introduction. 
2. Aim and Endeavors of Free-thinkers. 

3. Oppofed by the Clergy. 

4. Liberty of Free-thinking. 

5. Farther Account of the Views of Free-thinkers. 

6. The Progrefs of a Free-thinker towards Atheifm. 

7. Joint Impojlurs of the Friefl and Magi/Irate. 

8. The* Free-thinker's Method in making Converts and Dis- 
coveries. 

9. The Atheifl alone Free. His Senfe of natural Good ' cr. 'a 
Evil. 

10. Modern Free-thinkers more properly named Minute 
Fhilofophers. 

11. Minute Philofcphcrs, what fort of Men, and bnv 
educated. 

12. Their Numbers, Prcgrefs y and Tenets. 

13. Compared with other Fhilofophers* 

14. What Things and Notions to be eflcemed Natural. 

15. Truth the fume, notwithflanding Diva ft iy of Opir 

16. Rule and Meafure of moral Truth-. 



viii CONTENTS. 

The SECOND DIALOGUE. 

Seel:. I . Vulgar Error , That Vice is hurtful. 

2. The Benefit of Drunkennefs, Gaming and Whoring, 

3 . Prejudice againjl Vice wearing off. 

4. Its Ufefulnefs illujlrated in the Injlances of Callicles and 
Telefilia. 

5. The Reafcning of Lyficles in behalf of Vice examined. 

6. Wrong to punijh Actions when the Doblrines whence they 
flow are tolerated. 

7 . Hazardous Experiment of the Minute Philofophers . 

8. Their Doctrine of Circulation and Revolution, 

9. Their fenfe of a Reformation. 

1 o. Riches alone not the Public Weal. 

1 1 . Authority of Minute Philofophers : Their Prejudice 
againjl Religion. 

12. Effects of Luxury : Virtue ', whether notional ? 

1 3 . Pleafure of Senfe. 

14. What fort of Pleafure mofl natural to Man. 

15. Dignity of Human Nature. 

16. Pleafure mifiaken. 

17. Amufements, Mifery, and Cowardife of Minute Philo- 
fophers. 

18. Rakes cannot reckon. 

19. Abilities and Succefs of Minute Philofophers. 

20. Happy Effects of the Minute Philofophy in particular 
Injlances* 

2 1 . Their free Notions about Government. 

22. England the proper Soil for Minute Philofophy. 

2 3 . The Policy and Addrefs of its Profeffors. 

24. Merit of Minute Philofophers towards the Public. 

25. Their Notions and Character . 

26. Their Tendency towards Popery and Slavery. 

The THIRD DIALOGUE. 

Seel. 1. Alciphron^ ace omit of Honor. 
?. Character and Conduit of Men of Honor. 



CONTENTS. ix 

3. Senfe of moral Beauty. 

4. The Honejlum or to kalon of the Ancients. 

5. Tafle for moral Beauty whether a fure Guide or Rule. 

6. Minute Philofophers ravi/hed with the Abjlracl Beauty 
of Virtue. 

7. Their Virtue alone difinterefled and heroic. 

8. Beauty of fenfibk Objecls, what, and how perceived, 

9. The Idea of Beauty explained by Painting and Architec- 
ture. 

10. Beauty of the moral Syflem, wherein it confijls. 

11. It fuppofeth a Providence. 

12. Influence of to kalon and to prepon. 

13. Enthufiafm 0/Xratylus compared with the Sentiments of 
Ariftotle. 

14. Compared with the Stoical Principles. 

15. Minute Philofophers y their Talent for Raillery and Rid- 
icule. 

16. The Wifdom of thofe who make Virtue alone its own 
Reward. 

The FOURTH DIALOGUE. 

Seel. 1. Prejudices concerning a Deity. 

2. Rules laid down by Alciphron to be obferved in proving 
a God. 

3. What fort of Proof he expetls. 

4. Whence we col I eel the Being of other Thinking Indi- 
viduals. 

5. The fame Method a fortiori proves the Being of God. 

6. AlciphronV fecond Thoughts on this Point. 

7. Godjpeaks to Men. 

8. How Dijlance is perceived by Sight. 

9. The proper Objecls of Sight at no dijlance. 

10. Lights, Shades, and Colours, varioufly combined form a 
Language. 

1 1. The Signification of this Language learned by Experience. 

1 2. God explaincth hitnfelfto the Eyes of Men by the arbitrary 
life offenfible Signs. 



x CONTENTS, 

13. The Prejudice and two-fold Afpecl of a Minute Philo- 
fopher. 

14. God prefentto Mankind, informs, admonifhes, and direbls 
them in afenfible maimer. 

15. Admirable Nature and Ufe of this vifual Language, 

16. Minute Philofophers content to admit a God in certain 
Senfes. 

17. Opinion of fome, ivho hold that Knowledge and Wifdom 
are not properly in God. ._ 

1 8. Dangerous Tendency of this Notion. 

19. Its Original. 

20. The Senfe of Schoolmen upon it. 

21. Scholaftic Ufe of the terms Analogy and Analogical ex* 
plained,: Analogical Perfections of God mifunderflood. 

22. God intelligent, wife, and good, in the proper Senfe of the 
Words. 

23. Objection from moral Evil confidered. 

24. Men argue from their own Dcfebls againfl a Deity* 

25. Religious Worfhip reafonable and expedient. 

The FIFTH DIALOGUE. 

Seel:, ic Minute Philofophers join in the Cry, and follow 
the Scent of others. 

2. Wor/hip prefer ibed by the Chriflian Religon fuitable to God 
and Man. 

3. Power and Influence of the Druids. 

4. Excellency and Ufefalnefs of the Chri/lian Religion, 

5 . It ennobles Mankind, and makes them happy. 

6. Religion neither Bigotry nor Superflition. 

7. Phyficians and Phyficfor the Soul. 

8. Character of the Clergy. 

9. Natural Religion and Human Reafon not to be difparaged. 
3 o. Tendency and Ufe of the Gentile Religion. 

1 1 . Good Effects of Chrifianity 

1 2. Englishmen compared with ancient Greeks and Romans. 
1 3. The modern Practice of Dueling. 

14. Char abler of the Old Romans, how to be formed. 



CONTENTS. xi 

15. Genuine Fruits of the Go/pel. 

1 6. Wars and Factions not an Effecl of the Chriflian Religion, 

1 7. Civil Rage and Maffacrees in Greece and Rome. 

18. Virtue of ancient Greeks. 

1 9. Quarrels of Polemical Divines, 

20. Tyranny 9 Ufurpation y Sophiftry of Ecclefiajlics, 

2 1 . The Univerftties cenfured. 

22. Divine Writings of a certain modern Critic, 

23 . Learning the Effecl of Religion, 

24. Barbarifm of the Schools, 

25. Refloration of Learning and polite Arts y to whom owing, 

26. Prejudice and Ingratitude of Minute Philofophers, 

27. Their Pre tenf ions and Conducl incoffiflent, 

28. Men and Brutes compared with refpecl to Religion. 

29. Chrijlianity the only Means to eflablifh Natural- Religion* 

30. Free-thinkers mi/lake their Talents ; have aflrong Ima- 
gination. 

3 1 . Tithes and Church- Lands. 

32. Men diflinguijhedfrom Human Creatures, 

33. Diflribution of Mankind into Birds y Beafls y and Fifhes, 

34. Plea for Reafon allowed \ but Unfair nefs taxed. 

35. Freedom a Blejfingor a Curfe y as it is ufed, 
3 6. Priefl craft not the reigning Evil, 

The SIXfH DIALOGUE. 

Seel;. I. Points agreed. 

1, Sundry Pretences to Revelation. 

3 . Uncertainty of Tradition, 

4. Object and Ground of Faith. 

5. Some Books difputed) others evidently fpurious. 

6. Stile and Compofttion of holy Scripture. 

7. Difficulties occurring therein. 

8. Obfcurity not always a Defecl, 

9. lnfpiration neither impojftble nor abfurd. 

10. Obj eel ions from the Form and matter of Divine Revela- 
tion, conjidered. 

11. Infidelity an Effecl of Narrow nefs and Prejudice, 



xii CONTENTS. 

12. Articles of Christian Faith not unreafonable. 

13. Guilt the natural Parent of Fear, 

14. Things unknown , reduced to the Standard of what Men 
know. 

15. Prejudices againfl the Incarnation of the Son of God. 

1 6\ Ignorance of the Divine Oeconomy, a Source of Difficul- 
ties. 

1 7. Wifdom of God, Foolifhnefs to Man. 

1 8. Reafon, no blind Guide. 

19. Ufefulncfs of Divine Revelation. 

20. Prophefies, whence obfeure. 

21. Eajlern Accounts of Time older than the Mofaic. 

22. The Humour of ./Egyptians, AfTyrians, Chaldeans, and 
other Nations extending their Antiquity beyond Truth, ac- 
counted for. 

23. Reafons confirming the Mofaic Account. 

24. Profane Hiflorians inconfiflent, 

25. Celfus, Prophyry, and Julian. 

26. The teflimony of Jofephus confidered. 

27. Atieflation of Jews and Gentiles to Chrijlianlty. 

28. Forgeries and Herefies. 

29. Judgment and Attention of Minute Philofophers. 

30. Faith and Miracles. 

31. Probable Arguments a fufjicient Ground of Faith. 

32. The Chriflian Religion able to Jland the Teft of rational 
Inquiry. 

The SEVENTH DIALOGUE. 

Seel. 1 . Chriflian Faith impoffible. 

2. Words flan d for Ideas. 

3. No Knowledge or Faith without Ideas. 

4. Grace, no Idea of it. 

5. Suggefling Ideas not the only life of Words. 

6. Force as difficult to form an Idea of as Grace. 

7. Notwithjlanding which, ufeful Propofitions may be form" 
ed concerning it. 

8. Belief of the Trinity and other My f cries not abfurd. 



CONTENTS. xlii 

9. Mi/lakes about Faith an Qccafion of profane Raillery. 

10. Faith its true Nature and Effecls. 

1 1. Illufi rated by Science. 

12. By Arithmetic in particular. 

13. Sciences converfant about Signs. 

1 4. The true End of Speech, Reafon, Science, and Faith. 

15. Metaphyfical Obj 'eel ions areflrong againfl Human Sciences 
as Articles of Faith. K 

16. No Religion, becaufe no Human Liberty* m 

17. Farther Proof againfl Human Liberty. 

18. Fatalifm a Confequence of erroneous Suppofitions. 

19. Man an accountable Agent. 

20. Inconfijlency, Singularity, and Credulity of Minute Phi- 
lofophers. 

2 1 . Untroden Paths and new Light of Minute Philofophers. 

22. Soph'iflry of the Minute Philofophers. 

23. Minute Philofophers ambiguous, enigmatical, unfathom- 
able. 

24. Scepticifm of the Minute Philofophers. 

25. How a Sceptic ought to behave. 

26. Minute Philofophers, why difficult to convince. 
1*] , Thinking, not the epidemical Evil of thefe Times. 

28. Infidelity, not an Effecl of Reafon or Thought, its true 
Motives affgned. 

29. Variety of Opinions about Religion, EffeEls thereof. 

30. Method for proceeding with Minute Philofophers. 

31. Want of Thought and want of Education Defetls of the 
prefent Age. 



THE 

MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 

FIRST DIALOGUE. 



L Introduction* II. Aim and Endeavors of Free- 
thinkers. III. Oppofed by the Clergy. IV. Liber- 
ty of Free-thinking. V. Farther Account of the 
Views of Free-thinkers. VI. %he Progrefs of a 
Free-thinker towards Atheifm. VII. - Joint Impof- 
ture of the Priefi and Magijirate. VIII. The 
Free-thinker* s Method in making Converts and 
D if cover ies. IX. The Atheifi alone Free. His 
Senfe of natural Good and EviL X . Modern Free- 
thinkers more properly named Minute Philofophers. 
XI. Minute Philofophers, what fort of Men, and 
how educated. XII. Their Numbers, Progrefs and 
Tenets. XIII. Compared with other Philofophers. 
XIV. What Things and Notions to be efteemed nat- 
ural. XV. Truth the fame, notwithstanding Di- 
verfity of Opinions. XVI. Rule and Meafure of 
moral Truths. 

L I 

X FLATTERED myfelf, Tkeagts* that before this 
time I might have been able to have fent you an agreeable 
account of the fuccefs of the affair, which brought me 
into this remote corner of the country. But inftead of 
this, I mould now give you the detail of its mifcarriage, 
if I did not rather choofe to entertain you with fome amu- 
fmg incidents, which have helped to make me eafy under 
a circumftance I could neither obviate nor forefee. Events 



16 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. I.] 

are not in our power ; but it always is, to make a good 
ufe even of the worft. And I muft needs own, the courfe 
and the event of this affair gave opportunity for reflexions, 
that make me fome amends for a great lofs of time, pains, 
and expence. A life of action which takes its iflue from 
the counfels, paffions and views of other men, if it doth 
not draw a man to imitate, will at leaft teach him to ob- 
ferve. And a mind at liberty to reflect on its own obferv- 
ations, if it produce nothing ufeful to the world, feldom 
fails of entertainment to itfelf. For feveral months pad I 
have erijoyed fuch liberty and leifure in this diftant retreat, 
far beyond the verge of that great whirlpool of bufinefs, 
faction, and pleafure, which is called the world. And a 
retreat in itfelf agreeable, after a long fcene of trouble and 
difquiet, was made much more fo by the converfation and 
good qualities of my hoft Euphranor y who unites in his 
own perfon the philofopher and the farmer : two charac- 
ters not fo inconfiftent in nature as by cuftom they feem 
to be. Euphvanor, from the time he left the univerfity, 
hath lived in this fmall town ; where he is poffefled of a 
convenient houfe with a hundred acres of land adjoining 
to it ; which being improved by his own labor, yield him 
a plentiful fubfiftence. He hath a good collection, chief- 
ly of old books, left him by a clergyman his uncle, under 
whofe care he was brought up. And the bufinefs of his 
farm doth not hinder him from making good ufe of it. 
He hath read much, and thought more : his health and 
llrength of body enabling him the better to bear fatigue of 
mind. He is of opinion that he could not carry on his 
ftudies with more advantage in the clofet than the field, 
where his mind is feldom idle while he prunes the trees, 
follows the plough, or looks after his flocks. In the houfe 
of this honeft friend I became acquainted with Crito, a 
neighboring gentleman of diftinguifhed merit and eftate, 
who lives in great friendfhip with Euphranor. Laft fum- 
mer, Crito, whofe parilh church is in our town, dining on 
a Sunday at Euphranor*s t I happened to inquire after his 
guefls whom we had feen at church with him the Sunday 



[Dial I.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 17 

before. They are both well, faid Crita 9 but, having once 
cccafionally conformed, to fee what fort of afTembly our 
parifh could afford, they had no farther curiofity to gratify 
at church, and fo chofe to flay at home. How, faid Eu- 
phranory are they then diffenters ? No, replied Crito, they 
are free-thinkers. Euphranor, who had never met with 
any of this fpecies or feci: of men, and but little of their 
writings, (hewed a great defire to know their principles or 
fyftem. That is more, faid Crito y than I will undertake 
to tell you. Their writers are of different opinions. 
Some go farther, and explain themfelves more freely than 
others. But the current general notions of the feci: are 
beft learned from converfation with thofe who profefs 
themfelves of it. Your curiofitv mav now be fatisfied, if 
you and Dion would fpend a week at my houfe with thefe 
gentlemen, who feem very ready to declare and propagate 
their opinions. Alciphron is above forty, and no granger 
either to men or books. I knew him firfl at the Temple, 
which upon an eftate's falling to him, he quitted, to travel 
through the polite parts of Europe. Since his return he 
hath lived in the amufements of the town, which being- 
grown fcale and taftelefs to his palate, have flung him into 
a fort of fplenetic indolence. The young gentleman, 
JLvfcles, is a near kinfman of mine, one of lively parts, 
and a general infight into letters ; who, after having paus- 
ed the forms of education and feen a little of the world, 
fell into an intimacy with men of pleafure and free-think- 
ers, I am afraid much to the damage of his conftitution. 
and his fortune. But what I mo ft regret, is the corrup- 
tion of his mind by a {it of pernicious principles, which, 
having been obferved to furvive the paflions of youth, 
foreflaleven the remote hopes of amendment. They are 
both men of fafhion, and would be agreeable enough, if 
they did not fancy themfelves free-thinkers. But this, to 
fpeak the truth, Jias given them a certain air and manner, 
which a little too vifibly declare they think themfelves wi- 
fer than the reft of the world. I mould thei 
C 



18 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. I.] 

at all difpleafed if my guefts met with their match, where 
they leaft fufpe&ed it, in a country farmer. I (hall not, 
replied Euphranor y pretend to any more than barely to in- 
form myfelf of their principles and opinions. For this 
end I propofe to-morrow to fet a week's tafk to my labor- 
ers, and accept your invitation, if Dion thinks good. To 
which I gave confent. Mean while, faid Crko, I fhall pre- 
pare my guefts, and let them know that an honeft neigh- 
bor hath a mind to difcourfe with them on the fubjeft. of 
their free-thinking. And, if I am not miftaken, they will 
pleafe themfelves with the profpe£fc of leaving a convert 
behind them, even in a country village. Next morning 
Euphranor rofe early, and fpent the forenoon in ordering 
his affairs. After dinner we took our walk to Crito's 
which lay through half a dozen pleafant fields planted 
round with plane-trees, that are very common in this part 
of the country. We walked under the delicious (hade of 
thefe trees for about an hour before we came to Crito's 
houfe, which (lands in the middle of a fmall park, beauti- 
fied with two fine groves of oak and walnut, and a wind- 
ing dream of fweet and clear water. We met a fervant 
at the door with a fmall bafket of fruit which he was car- 
rying into a grove, where he faid his mailer was with the 
two Grangers. We found them all three fitting under a 
ihade. And after the ufual forms at firft meeting, Eu- 
phranor and I fat down by them. Our converfation began 
upon the beauty of this rural fcene, the fine feafon of the 
year, and fome late improvements which had been made in 
the adjacent country by new methods of agriculture. 
Whence Aldphron took occafion to obferve, that the mod 
valuable improvements came lateil. I mould have fmall 
temptation, faid he, to live where men have neither polifh- 
ed manners, nor improved minds, though the face of the 
country were ever fo well improved. Butlhave long obferv- 
ecl, that there is a gradual progrefs in human affairs. The 
firft care of mankind is to fupply the cravings of nature : 
in the next place they ftudy the conveniencies and comforts 



[Dial. L] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. i 9 

of life. But the fubduing prejudices and acquiring true 
knowledge, that Herculean labor, is the lad, being what de- 
mands the mod perfect abilities, and to which all other 
advantages are preparative. Right, faid Euphranor y Alci- 
phron hath touched our true defect. It was always my 
opinion, that as foon as we had provided fubfiftence for 
the body, our next care fhoukl be to improve the mind. 
But the defire of wealth fteps between and ingroileth men's 
thoughts. 

II. Alciphron. — Thought is that which we are told 
didinguifTieth man from bead : and freedom of thought 
makes as great a difference between man and man. It 
is to the noble aflerters of this privilege and perfection of 
human kind, the free-thinkers I mean, who have fprung 
up and multiplied of late years, that we are indebted for 
all thofe important difcoveries, that ocean of light which 
hath broke in and made its way, in fpite of ilavery and 
fuperftition. Euphrano'r, who is a fmcere enemy to both, 
tedified a great efteem for thofe worthies who had prefer- 
ved their country from being ruined by them, having 
fpread fo much light and knowledge over the land. He 
added, that he liked the name and character of a free- 
thinker 5 but in his fenfe of the word, every honed 
inquirer after truth in any age or country was intitled to 
it. He therefore defired to know what this feet was 
that Alciphron had fpoken of as newly fprung up ? 
what were their tenets ? what were their difcoveries ? 
and wherein they employed themfelves, for the benefit 
of mankind ? Of all which, he mould think himfelf 
obliged, if Alciphron would inform him. That I mall, 
very eafily, replied Alciphron, for I profefs myfelf one of the 
number, and my mod intimate friends are fome of the 
mod confiderable among them. And perceiving that 
Euphranor heard -'him with refpect, he proceeded very 
fluently. You mud know, faid he, that the mind of 
man may be fitly compared to a piece of land. V 



so MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. I.] 

flubbing, ploughing, digging, and harrowing, is to the one ; 
that thinking, reflecting, examining, is to the other. Each 
hath its proper culture ; and as land that is fuffered to 
lie wade and wild for a long tract of time, will be over- 
fpread with brufh-wood, brambles, thorns, and fuch 
vegetables which have neither ufe nor beauty •, even fo 
there will not fail to fprout up in a neglected uncultivated 
mind, a great number of prejudices and abfurd opinions, 
which owe their origin partly to the foil itfelf, the paffions 
and imperfections of the mind of man j and partly to 
thofe feeds which chance to be fcattered in it by every 
wind of doctrine, which the cunnig of ftatefmen, the 
fingularity of pedants, the fuperftition of fools, or the irn- 
pofture of priefls, mall raife. Reprefent to yourfelf the 
mind of man, or human nature in general, that for fo 
many ages had lain obnoxious to the frauds of defigning, 
and the follies of weak men : How it muft be overrun 
with prejudices and errors : what firm and deep roots 
they muft have taken : and confequently how difficult a 
tafk it muft be to extirpate them : And* yet this work, 
no lefs difficult than glorious, is the employment of the 
modern Free-thinkers. Alciphron having faid this, made 
a paufe, and looked round on the company. Truly faid 
I, a very laudable undertaking ! We think, faid Euphranor, 
that it is praife-worthy to clear and fubdue the earth, to 
tame brute animals, to fafhion the outrides of men, pro- 
vide fuflenance for their bodies, and cure their maladies. 
But what is all this in comparifon of that moft excellent 
and ufeful undertaking, to free mankind from their errors, 
and to improve and adorn their minds ? For things of lefs 
merit towards the world, altars have been raifed, and 
temples built in ancient times. Too many in our days, 
replied Alciphron, are fuch focis as not to know their bed 
benefactors from their worft enemies : They have a blind 
refpeel for thofe. who inflave them -, and leok u^on their 
deliverers as a dangerous fort of men, that would under- 
mine received principles and opinions. 



[Dial. I.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 21 

Euphranor. — It were a great pity fuch worthy ingeni- 
ous men mould meet with any difcouragement. For my 
part I mould think a man, who fpent his time in fuch a 
painful impartial fearch after truth, a better friend to man- 
kind than the greateft ftatefman or hero ; the advantage 
of whofe labors is confined to a little part of the world, 
and a ftiort fpace of time ; whereas a ray of truth may 
enlighten the whole world, and extend to future ages. 

Alc. — It will be fome time, I fear, before the common 
herd think as you do. But the better fort, the men of 
parts and polite education, pay a due regard to the patrons 
of light and truth. 

III. Euph. — The clergy, no doubt, are on all occafions 
ready to forward and applaud your worthy endeavors. 
Upon hearing this, Lyficles could hardly refrain from 
laughing. And Alclphron, with an air of pity, told Eu- 
phrancr, that he perceived he was unacquainted with the real 
character of thofe men : For, faid he, you mud know, that 
of all men living they are our greateft enemies. If it were 
poflible, they would extinguifh the very light of nature, 
turn the world into a dungeon, and keep mankind for ever 
in chains and darknefs. 

Euph. — I never imagined any thing like this of our 
proteftant clergy, particularly thofe of the eftablifhed 
church ; whom, if I may be allowed to judge by what I 
have feen of them and their writings, I ihould have thought 
lovers of learning and ufeful knowledge. 

Alc — Take my word for it, prieftsof all religions are the 
fame : wherever there are priefts, there will be prieft craft : 
and wherever there is priefberaft, there will be a perfec- 
ting fpirit, which they never fail to exert to the utmoft of 
their power againft all thofe who have the courage to think 
for themielves, and will not fubmit to be hoodwinked and 
manacled by their reverend leaders. Thofe great mafters 
of pedantry and jargon have coined feveral fyitems, which 
are all equally true, and of equal importance to the world. 
The contending feels are each alike fond cf their own, and 



2Z MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. L] 

alike prone to difcharge their fury upon all who diffent 
from them. Cruelty and ambition being the darling vi- 
ces of priefts and churchmen all the world over, they en- 
deavor in all countries to get an afcendant over the reft of 
mankind ; and the magiftrate having a joint intereft with 
the prieft in fubduing, amufing, and fearing the people, 
too often lends a hand to the hierarchy ; who never think 
their authority and pofleflions fee ure, fo long as thofe who 
differ from them in opinion are allowed to partake even in 
the common rights belonging to their birth or fpecies. 
To reprefent the matter in a true light, figure to yourfelves 
a monfter or fpe&re made up of fuperftition and enthufi- 
afm, the joint iflue of flatecraft and prieftcraft, rattling chains 
in one hand, and with the other brandifhing a flaming fword 
over the land, and menacing definition to all whofhalldare 
to follow the dictates of reafon and common fenfe. Do but 
confider this, and then fay if there was not danger as well 
as difficulty in our undertaking. Yet, fuch is the gener- 
ous ardour that truth infpires, our free-thinkers are neither 
overcome by the one, nor daunted by the other. In fpite 
of both we have already made fo many profelytes among 
the better fort, and their numbers increafe fo faft, that we 
hope we fhall be able to carry all before us, beat down the 
bulwarks of tyranny, fecular or ecclefiaftical, break the fet- 
ters and chains of our countrymen, and reflore the origi- 
nal inherent rights, liberties, and prerogatives of mankind. 
Euphmnor heard this difcourfe with his mouth open and 
his eyes fixed upon Alciphron> who, having uttered it with 
no fmall emotion, flopt to draw breath and recover him- 
felf : But finding that no body made anfwer, he returned 
the thread of his difcourfe, and turning to Euphranor fpoke 
in a lower note what follows. The more innocent and 
honeft a man is, the more liable is he to be impofed on by 
the fpecious pretences of other men. You have probably 
met with certain writings of our divines that treat of grace, 
virtue, goodnefs, and fuch matters, fit to amufe and deceive 
a fimple honeft mind. But believe me when I tell you 



[Dial. I] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 23 

they are all at bottom (however they may gild their defigns) 
united by one common principle in the fame intereft. I 
will not deny there may be here and there a poor half-wit- 
ted man that means no raifchief ; but this I will be bold 
to fay, that all the men of fenfe among them are true at 
bottom to thcfe three purfuits of ambition, avarice, and 
revenge. 

IV. While Akiphroti was fpeaking, a fervant came to 
tell him and Lyficles> that fome men who were going to 
London waited to receive their orders. Whereupon they 
both rofe and went towards the houfe. They were no 
fooner gone, but Euphranor addreiling himfelf to Crito faid, 
he believed that poor gentleman had been a great fufFerer 
for his free-thinking : for that he feemed to exprefs him- 
felf with the paflion and refentment natural to men who 
have received very bad ufage. I believe no fuch thing, 
anfwered Crito 9 but have often obferved thofe of his feci: 
run into two faults of converfation, declaiming and banter- 
ing, juft as the tragic or the comic humor prevails. Some- 
times they work themfelves into high paffions, and are 
frightened at ipe6tres of their own raifing. In thofe fits 
every country-curate pafies for an inquifitor. At other 
times they affect a fly facetious manner making ufe of 
hints and allufions, expreffing little, infinuating much, and 
upon the whole feeming to divert themfelves with the fub- 
je£r, and their adverfaries. But if you would know their 
opinions, you muft make them fpeak out and keep clofe to 
the point. Perfecution for free-thinking is a topic they 
are apt to enlarge on, though without any juft caufe, eve- 
ry one being at full liberty to think what he pleafes, there 
being no fuch thing in England that I know as perfecution 
for opinion, fentiment, or thought. But in every country, 
I fuppofc, fome care is taken to reftrain petulant fpeech : 
and, whatever men's inward thoughts may be, to difcour- 
age an outward contempt of what the public clleemeth 
facred . Whether this care in E>;gL>id hath of late been 



24 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. I.] 

fo excefTive, as to diilrefs the fubjecls of this once free and 
eafy government : whether the free-thinkers can truly 
complain of any hafdfhip upon the fcore of confeience or 
opinion : you will better be able to judge, when you hear 
from themfelves an account of the numbers, progrefs, and 
notions of their feci : which I doubt not they will commu- 
nicate fully and freely, provided no body prefent feems 
fhocked or offended. For in that cafe it is pofTible good 
manners may put them upon fome referve. Oh ! faid 
Euphranor, I am never angry with any man for his opin- 
ion : whether he be Jew, Turk, or Idolater, he may fpeak 
his mind freely to me without fear of offending. I mould 
even be glad to hear what he hath to fay, provided he faith 
it in an ingenuous candid manner. Whoever digs in the 
mine of truth, I look on as my fellow-laborer : but if, 
while I am taking true pains, he diverts himfelf with teiz- 
ing me and flinging dull in mine eyes, I (hall foon be tired 
of him. 

V. In the mean time Aldphron and Lyficles having dif- 
patched what they went about, returned to us. Lyficles 
fat down where he had been before. But Alciphron flood 
over-againfl us, with his arms folded acrofs, and his head 
reclined on the left moulder in the poflure of a man medi- 
tating. We fat filent not to diilurb his thoughts ; and 
after two or three minutes he uttered thofe words, Oh 
truth ! Oh liberty ! after which he remained mufmg as 
before. Upon this Euphranor took the freedom to inter- 
rupt him. Alciphron, faid he, it is not fair to fpend your 
time in foliloquies. The cenverfation of learned and 
knowing men is rarely to be met with in this corner, and 
the opportunity you have put into my hands I value too 
much, not to make the beft ufe of it. 

Alc— Are you then in earned a votary of truth, and 
is it pollible that you mould be:u* the liberty of a fair in- 
quiry ? 

Euph. — It is what I defire of ail things, 



[Dial. I] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 25 

Alc. — What ! upon every fubjeft ? upon the notions 
which you firft fucked in with your milk, and which have 
been ever fince nurfed by parents, paftors, tutors, religious 
aflemblies, books of devotion, and fuch methods of pre- 
poiTefiing men's minds ? 

Euph. — I love information upon all fubjects that come 
in my way, and efpecially upon thofe that are moil im- 
portant. 

Alc. — If then you are in earneft, hold fair and (land 
firm, while I probe your prejudices and extirpate your 
principles. 

Dum veteres avias tibi de pulmoiie revello. 

Having faid thus, Alciphron knit his brows and made a 
fhort paufe, after which he proceeded in the following 
manner. If we are at the pains to dive and penetrate into 
the bottom of things, and analyfe opinions into their firft 
principles, we fhall find that thofe opinions, which are 
thought of greateft confequence, have the flighted origi- 
nal, being derived either from the cafual cuftoms of the 
country where we live, or from early inftru£tion inftlMed 
into our tender minds, before we are able to difcern be- 
tween right and wrong, true and falfe. The vulgar (by 
whom I underfland all thofe who do not make a free ufe 
of their reafon) are apt to take thefe prejudices for things 
facred and unqueftionable, believing them to be imprinted 
on the hearts of men by God himfelf, or conveyed by rev- 
elation from heaven, or to carry with them fo great light 
and evidence as muft force an allent without any inquiry 
or examination. Thus the fhallow vulgar have their heads 
furnifhed with fundry conceits, principles, and doctrines, 
religious, moral, and political, all which they maintain 
with a zeal proportionable to their want of reafon. On 
the other hand, thofe who duly employ their faculties in 
the fearch of truth, take efpecial care to weed out of their 
minds and extirpate all fuch notions or prejudices as were 
planted in them, before they arrived at the free and intire 
ufe of reafon. This difficult talk hath been fuccefsfu!' 

D 



26 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. I.] 

performed by our modern free-thinkers, who have not only 
difiecled with great fagacity the received fyftems, and tra- 
ced every eftabliihed prejudice to the fountain head, the 
true and genuine motives of aflent : But alfo, being able to 
embrace in one comprehenfive view the feveral parts and 
ages of the world, they have obferved a wonderful variety 
of cuftoms and rites, of inftitutions, religious and civil, of 
notions and opinions very unlike and even contrary one to 
another : A certain fign they cannot all be true. And yet 
they are all maintained by their feveral partizans with the 
fame pofitive air and warm zeal ; and if examined will be 
found to bottom on one and the fame foundation, the 
flrength of prejudice. By the help of thefe remarks and 
difcoveries, they have broke through the bands of popular 
euftom, and having freed themfelves from impofture, do 
now generoufly lend a hand to their fellow-fubjecl:s, to lead 
them into the fame paths of light and liberty. Thus, gen- 
tlemen, I have given you a fummary account of the views 
and endeavors of thofe men who are called free-thinkers. 
If <tn the courfe of what I have faid or mall fay hereafter, 
there be fome things contrary to your pre-conceived 
opinions, and therefore (hocking and difagreeable, you 
will pardon the freedom and plainnefs of a philofopher ; 
and confider that, whatever difpleafure I give you of that 
kind, I do it in flri£t regard to truth and obedience to your 
own commands. I am very fenfible, that eyes long kept 
in the dark, cannot bear a fudden view of noon day light, 
but mull be brought to it by degrees. It is for this rea- 
fon, the ingenious gentlemen of our profeffion are accuf- 
tonied to proceed gradually, beginning with thofe preju- 
dices to which men have the lead attachment, and thence 
proceeding to undermine the reft by flow and infenfibie 
degrees, till they have demolifhed the whole fabric of hu- 
man folly and fuperftition. But the little time I can pro- 
pofe to fpend here obligeth me to take a fhorter courfe, 
and be more direcl: and plain than poffibiy maybe thought 
to fuit with prudence and good manners. Upon this, we 



[Dial. L] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 27 

affured him he was at full liberty to fpeak his mind of 
things, perfons, and opinions without the leaft referve. It 
is a liberty, replied Alciphron, that we free-thinkers are 
equally willing to give and take. We love to call things 
by their right names, and cannot endure that truth mould 
fuffer through complaifance. Let us therefore lay it down 
for a preliminary, that no offence be taken at any thing, 
whatfoever (hall be faid on either fide. To which we all 
agreed. 

VI. In order then, faid Alciphron, to find out the 
truth, we will fuppofe that I am bred up, for inilance, 
in the Church of England : When I come to maturity 
of judgment, and reflecl: on the particular worfhip and 
opinions of this Church, I do not remember when or by 
what means they firft took pofleflion of my mind, but 
there I find them from time immemorial. Then calling 
an eye on the education of children, from whence I can 
make a judgment of my own, I obferve they are inftru£t- 
ed in religious matters before they can reafon about them, 
and confequently that all fuch inftru£tion is nothing elfe 
but filling the tender mind of a child with prejudices. — 
I do therefore reject all thofe religious notions, which I 
confider as the other follies of my childhood. I am con- 
firmed in this way of thinking, when I look abroad into 
the world, where I obferve Papifts and feveral fe&s of 
diffenters, which do all agree in a general profeffion of 
belief in Chrift, but differ vaftly one from another in the 
particulars of faith and worfhip. I then enlarge my view 
fo as to take in Jews and Mahometans, between whom 
and the Chriftians I perceive indeed fome fmall agreement 
in the belief of one God ; but then they have each their 
diftincl: laws and revelations, for which they exprefs the 
fame regard. But extending my view ftill farther to hea- 
thenifh and idolatrous nations, I difcover an endlefs vari- 
ety, not only in particular opinions and modes of worfhip, 
but even in the very notion of a Deity, wherein they 



28 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. 1.1 

widely differ one from another, and from all the foremen- 
tioned fe&s. Upon the whole, inftead of truth fimple 
and uniform, I perceive nothing but difcord, opposition, 
and wild pretenfions, all fpringing from the fame fource, 
to wit, the prejudice of education. From fuch reafon- 
ings and reflexions as thefe, thinking men have concluded 
that all religions are alike falfe and fabulous. One is a 
Chriftian, another a Jew, • a third a Mahometan, a fourth 
an idolatrous Gentile, but ail from one and the fame rea- 
fon, becaufe they happen to be bred up each in his refpec- 
tive feci:. In the fame manner, therefore, as each of 
thefe contending parties condemns the reft, fo an unpre- 
judiced ftander-by will condemn and rejecl: them all to- 
gether, obferving that they all draw their origin from the 
fame fallacious principle, and are carried on by the fame 
artifice, to anfwer the fame ends of the prieft and the ma- 
giftrate. 

VII. EttPH.*— You hold then that the magiftrate con- 
curs with the prieft in impofing on the people ? 

Alc. — I do, and fo mult every one who considers 
things in a true light. For you muft know, the magif- 
trate's principal aim is to keep the people under him in 
awe. Now the public eye reftrains men from open of- 
fences againft the laws and government. But to prevent 
fecret tranfgreffions, a magiftrate finds it expedient that 
men fhould believe there is an eye of Providence watching 
over their private actions and defigns. And, to intimi- 
date thofe who might other wife be drawn into crimes by 
the profpe£t. of pleafure and profit, he gives them to un- 
derftand, that whoever efcapes punifhment in this life will 
be fure to find it in the next -, and that fo heavy and lafi> 
ing as infinitely to over-balance the pleafure and profit ac- 
cruing from his crimes. Hence the belief of a God, the 
immortality of the foul, and a future ftate of rewards and 
punifhments, have been efteemed ufeful engines of govern- 
ment. And to the end that thefe notional airy doctrines 



Pial. L] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 29 

might make a fenfible impreffion, and be retained on the 
minds of men, fkillful rulers have in the feveral civilized 
nations of the earth devifed temples, facrifices, churches, 
rites, ceremonies, habits, mufic, prayer, preaching, and 
the like fpiritual trumpery, whereby the prieft maketh 
temporal gains, and the magiftrate findeth his account in 
frightening and fubduing the people. This is the original 
of the combination between church and date, of religion 
by law eftablifhed, of rights, immunities, and incomes 
of priefts all over the world : There being no govern- 
ment but would have you fear God, that you may honor 
the king or civil power. And you will ever obferve that 
politic princes keep up a good underftanding with their 
clergy, to the end that they in return, by inculcating re- 
ligion and loyalty in the minds of the people, may ren- 
der them tame, timorous and flavifh. 

Crito and I heard this difcourfe of Alc'iphron with the ut- 
moft attention, though without any appearance of fur- 
prife, there being indeed nothing in it to us new and un- 
expected. But Euphranor who had never before been 
prefent at fuch converfation, could not help mewing fome 
aftonifhment \ which Lyficles obferving, afked him with 
a lively air, how he liked Alciphroiis lecture. It is, faid 
he, the firft I believe that you ever heard of the kind, and 
requireft a flrong ftomach to digeft it. 

Euph. — I will own to you, that my digeftion is none of 
the quickeft ; but it hath fometimes, by degrees, been able 
to mailer things which at firft appeared indigeftible. At 
prefent I admire the free fpirit and eloquence of Alciphron *, 
but, to fpeak the truth, I am rather aftonilhed, than con- 
vinced of the truth of his opinions. How, (faid he, turn- 
ing to Alciphron) is it then poflible you mould not believe 
the being of a God ? 

Alc — To be plain with you, I do not. 

VIII. But this is what I forefaw, a flood of light let in 
at once upon the mind being apt to dazzle and diforder* 



3 <5 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. I.] 

rather than enlighten it. Was I not pinched in time, the 
regular way would be to have begun with the circumftan- 
tials of religion, next to have attacked the myfteries of 
chriftianity, after that proceeded to the practical doctrines, 
and in the laft place to have extirpated that which of all 
other religious prejudices, being the firft taught, and bafis 
of the reft, hath taken the deepeft root in our minds, I 
mean, the belief of a God. I do not wonder it flicks with 
you, having known feveral very ingenious men who found 
it difficult to free themfelves from this prejudice. , 

Euph. — All men have not the fame alacrity and vigor 
in thinking : For my own part, I find it a hard matter to 
keep pace with you. 

Alc. — To help you, I will go a little way back, and re- 
fume the thread of my reafoning. Firft I muft acquaint 
you, that having applied my mind to contemplate the idea 
of truth, I difcovered it to be of a ftable permanent, and 
uniform nature ; not various and changeable, like modes 
or fafhions, and things depending on fancy. In the next 
place, having obferved feveral fe£ts, and fubdivifions of 
fe&s, efpoufing very different and contrary opinions, and 
yet all profeffing chriftianity, I rejected thofe points where- 
in they differed, retaining only that which was agreed to 
by all, and fo became a Latitudinarian. Having after- 
wards, upon a more enlarged view of things, perceived 
that chriftians, Jews, and Mahometans had each their dif- 
ferent fyftems of faith, agreeing only in the belief of one 
God, I became a Deifi. Laftly, extending my view to all 
the various nations which inhabit this globe, and finding they 
agreed in no one point of faith, but differed one from an- 
other, as well as from the forementioned feels, even in the 
notion of a God, in which there is as great diverfity as in 
the methods of worfhip, I thereupon became an Atheijl ; 
it being my opinion, that a man of courage and fenfe mould 
follow. his argument wherever it leads him, and that noth- 
ing is more ridiculous than to be a free-thinker by halves. 
I approve the man who makes thorough work, and, not 



[Dial. I.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 31 

content with lopping off the branches, extirpates the very 
root from which they fprung. 

IX. Atheifm therefore, that bugbear of women and 
fools, is the very top and perfection of free-thinking. It 
is the grand Arcanum to which a true genius naturally rif- 
eth, by a certain climax or gradation of thought, and with- 
out which he can never poffefs his foul in abfolute liberty 
and repofe. For your thorough conviction in this main 
article, do but examine the notion of a God with the fame 
freedom that you would other prejudices. Trace it to 
the fountain-head, and you {hall not find that you had 
it by any of your fenfes, the only true means of difcover- 
ing what is real and fubftantial in nature. You will find 
it lying amongft other old lumber in fome obfcure corner 
of the imagination, the proper receptacle of vifions, fancies, 
and prejudices of all kinds : And if you are more attached 
to this than the reft, it is only becaufe it is the oldefl. This 
is all, take my word for it, and not mine only, but that or 
many more the moft ingenious men of the age, who, I can 
affure you, think as I do on the fubje£r. of a Deity. Though 
fome of them hold it proper to proceed with more referve 
in declaring to the world their opinion in this particular, 
than in moft others. And it muft be owned, there are 
flill too many in England who retain a foolifh prejudice 
againft the name of Atheift. But it lefTens every day 
among the better fort ; and when it is quite worn out, our 
free-thinkers may then, (and not till then) be faid to have 
given the finifhing ftroke to religion ; it being evident that 
fo long as the exiftence of God is believed, religion muft 
fubfift in fome fhape or other. But the root being once 
plucked up, the fcions which fhot from it will of courfe 
wither and decay. Such are all thofe whimfical notions 
of confcience, duty, principle, and the like, which fill a 
man's head with fcruples, awe him with fears, and make 
him a more thorough Have than the horfe he rides. A 
man had better a thoufand times be hunted by bailiffs or 



3* MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. I.] 

meflengers than haunted by thefe fpectres, which embar- 
afs arid embitter all his pleafures, creating the moll real 
and fore fervitude upon earth. But the free-thinker, with 
a vigorous flight of thought breaks through thofe airyfpring- 
es, and afTerts his original independency. Others indeed 
may talk, and write, and fight about liberty, and make an 
outward pretence to it, but the free-thinker alone is truly 
free. 

Alciphron having ended this difcourfe with an air of 
triumph, Euphranor fpoke to him in the following manner. 
You make clear work. The gentlemen of your profeiTion 
are, it feems, admirable weeders. You have rooted up a 
world of notions, I mould be glad to fee what fine things 
you have planted in their (lead. 

Alc. — Have patience, good Euphranor^ I will (hew 
you in the firft place, that whatever was found and good 
we leave untouched, and encourage it to grow in the 
mind of man. And fecondly, I will fhew you what ex- 
cellent things we have planted in it. You muft know 
then, that purfuing our clofe and fevere fcrutiny, we do 
at laft arrive at fomething folid and real, in which all 
mankind agree, to wit, the appetites, paflions, and fen- 
fes : Thefe are founded in nature, are real, have real 
objects, and are attended with real and fubftantial plea- 
fures : food, drink, fleep, - and the like animal enjoy- 
ments, being what all men like and love. And if we extend 
our view to the other kinds of animals, we mail find them 
all agree in this, that they have certain natural appe- 
tites and fenfes, in the gratifying and fatisfying of which 
they are conflantly employed. Now thefe real natural 
good things which include nothing of notion or fancy, we 
are fo far from deftroying, that we do all we can tp cher- 
ifh and improve them. According to us, every wife man 
looks upon himfelf, or his own bodily exiftence in this 
prefent world, as the centre and ultimate end of all his 
actions and regards. He confiders his appetites as natu- 
ral guides directing to his proper good, his paflions and 



[Dial. I] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 33 

fenfcs as the natural true means of enjoying this good.-— 
Hence he endeavors to keep his appetites in high relifh, his 
paflions and fenfes ftrong and lively, and to provide the 
greateft quantity and variety of real objects fuited to them, 
which he ftudieth to enjoy by all poffible means, and in 
the higheft perfection imaginable. And the man who 
can do this without reftraint, remorfe or fear, is as happy as 
any other animal whatsoever, or as his nature is capable of 
being. Thus I have given you a fuccincl: view of the 
principles, difcoveries, and tenets of the felecl: fpirits o£ 
this enlightened age. 

X. Crito remarked, that Alciphron had fpoke his mind, 
with great clearnefs. Yes, replied Euphranor^ we are obli- 
ged to the gentleman, for letting us at once into the tenets 
of his feci:. But, if I may be allowed to fpeak my mind, 
Alciphron^ though in compliance with my own requeft, 
hath given me no fmall uneafinefs. You need, faid Alci- 
phroriy make no apology for fpeaking freely what you 
think, to one who profefleth himfelf a free-thinker. I 
Ihould be forry to make one, whom I meant to oblige, 
uneafy. Pray let me know wherein I have offended. I 
am half alhamed, replied Euphranor, to own that I, who 
am no great genius, have a weaknefs incidental to little 
ones. I would fay, that I have favorite opinions, which 
you reprefent to be errors and prejudices. For inftance, 
the immortality of the foul is a notion I am fond of, as 
what fupports the mind with a very pleafing profpccl:.— — 
And if it be an error, I fhould perhaps be of Tullfs mind, 
who, in that cafe, profefTed he fhould be forry to know the 
truth, acknowledging no fort of obligation to certain phi- 
lofophers in his days, who taught, that the foul of man 
was mortal. They were, it feems, predecefTors to thofe 
who are now called free-thinkers j which name being too 
general and indefinite, inafmuch as it comprehends all 
thofe who think for thcmfelves, whether they agree vbl 

E 



34 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. I.] 

opinion with thefe gentlemen or no, it mould not feem 
amifs to affign them a fpecific appellation, or peculiar 
name, whereby to diftinguifh them from other philofo- 
phers, at leaft in our prefent conference. For I cannot 
bear to argue againfl free-thinking and free- thinkers v 

Alc. — In the eye of a wife man, words are of fmall 
moment. We do not think truth attached to a name. 

Euph. — If you pleafe then, io avoid confufion, let us 
call your feci: by the fame name that Tully (who under- 
ftood the force of language) beftowed upon them. 

Alc— With all my heart. Pray what may that name 
be? 

Eupk. — Why, he calls them Minute Philofophers. Right, 
faid CritOy the modern free-thinkers are the very fame with 
thofe Cicero called Minute Philofophers, which name ad- 
mirably fuits them, they being a fort of feci: which dimin- 
ifh all the mod valuable things, the thoughts, views, and 
hopes of men : all the knowledge, notions, and theories of 
the mind, they reduce to fenfe ; human nature they con- 
trad! and degrade to the narrow low ftandard of animal 
life, and affign us only a fmall pittance of time, inftead of 
immortality. 

Alciphrcn very gravely remarked, that the gentlemen of 
his feci had done no injury to man ; and that if he be a 
little fhort-lived, contemptible animal, it was not their 
faying it made him fo : And they were no more to blame 
for whatever defects they difcover, than a faithful glafs 
for making the wrinkles which it only fhews. As to what 
you obferve, faid he, of thofe we now call free-thinkers, 
having been anciently termed Minute Philofophers^ it is my 
opinion, this appellation might be derived from their confid- 
cring things minutely, and not fwallowing them in the 
grofs, as other men are ufed to do. Befides, we all 
know, the bed eyes are necefTary to difcern the minuted 
objects : It feems, therefore, that Minute Philofophers 
might have been fo called, from their diftinguilhed perfpi<- 
cacity. 



[Dial. L] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 35 

Euph. — O Alciphron ! thefe Minute Philofophers (fince 
that is their true name) are a fort of pirates, who plunder 
all that come in their way. I confider myfelf as a man 
left ftript and defolate on a bleak beach. 

XL But who are the profound and learned men, that 
of late years have demolifhed the whole fabric, which 
lawgivers, philofophers, and divines, had been erecting for 
fo many ages ? Lyficles hearing thefe words, fmiled, and 
faid, he believed Euphranor had figured to himfelf philofo- 
phers in fquare caps and long gowns ; but, thanks to 
thefe happy times, the reign of pedantry was over. Our 
philofophers, faid he, are of a very different kind from 
thofe aukward ftudents, who think to come at knowledge 
by p. uring on dead languages, and old authors, or by fe- 
queftring themfelves from the cares of the world, to 
meditate in folitude and retirement. They are the belt 
bred men of the age, men who know the world, men of 
pleafure, men of fafliion, and fine gentlemen. 

Euph. — I have fome fmall notion of the people you 
mention, but fhould never have taken them for philofo- 
phers. 

Cri.— Nor would any one elfe till of late. The world, 
it feems, was long under a miftake about the way to 
knowledge, thinking it lay through a tedious courfe of 
academical education and ftudy. But among the difcov- 
eries of the prefent age, one of the principal is, the finding 
out that fuch a method doth rather retard and obftrucT:, 
than promote knowledge. 

Alc. — Academical ftudy may be comprifed in two 
points, reading and meditation. Their reading is chiefly 
employed on ancient authors in dead languages : fo that a 
great part of their time is fpent in learning words ; which, 
when they have mattered with infinite pains, what do they 
get by it, but old and obfolete notions, that are now quite 
exploded and out of ufe ? then, as to their meditations, 



$6 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. IJ 

what can they poflibly be good for ? he that wants the 
proper materials of thought, may think and meditate 
for ever to no purpofe : Thofe cobwebs, fpun by fcholars, 
out of their own brains, being alike unferviceable, either 
for ufe or ornament. Proper ideas, or materials, are only 
to be got by frequenting good company. I know feveral 
gentlemen, who, fince their appearance in the world, have 
fpentas much time in rubbing off the ruft and pedantry of 
a college education, as they had done before in acquir- 
ing it. 

Lys. — I'll undertake, a lad of fourteen, bred in the mod- 
ern way, mall make a better figure, and be more confid- 
ered in any drawing room, or aflembly of polite people, 
than one of four and twenty, who hath lain by a long 
time at fchool and college. He mail fay better things, in 
a better manner, and be more liked by good judges. 

Euph. — Where doth he pick up all this improvement ? 

Cri. — Where our grave anceftors would never have 
looked for it, in a drawing room, a coffee houfe, a chocolate 
houfe, at the tavern, or groom porter's. In thefe, and the 
like fafhionable places of refort, it is the cuftom for polite 
perfons to fpeak freely on all fubjects, religious, moral, or 
political. So that a young gentleman, who frequents them, 
is in the way of hearing many inftru&ive lectures, feafon- 
ed with wit and raillery, and uttered with fpirit. Three 
orfourfentences, from a man of quality, fpoke with a good 
air, make more impreflion, and convey more knowledge, 
than a dozen difiertations, in a dry academical way. 

Euph. — There is then no method, or cpurfe of ftudies, 
in thofe places. 

Lys. — None but an eafy free converfation, which takes 
in every thing that offers, without any rule or defign. 

Euph. — I always thought that fome order was neceffa- 
ry to attain any ufeful degree of knowledge ; that hafte 
and confuflon begat a conceited ignorance •, that to make 
our advances fure, they mould be gradual, and thofe 



[[Dial. L3 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 37 

points firft learned, which might caft a light on what was 
to follow. 

Alc— So long as learning was to be obtained only by 
that flow, formal courfe of ftudy, few of the better fort 
knew much of it ; but now it is grown an amufement, 
our young gentry and nobility imbibe it infenfibly, amidft 
their diverfions, and make a confiderable progrefs. 

Euph. — Hence probably the great number of Minute 
Philofophers. 

Cri.— - It is to this that feci; is owing for fo many ingeni- 
ous proficients of both fexes. You may now commonly 
fee (what no former age ever faw) a young lady, or a Petit 
Jllaitre, nonplus a divine, or an old~fafhioned gentleman, 
who hath read many a Greek and Latin author, and fpent 
much time in hard methodical ftudy. 

Euph. — It flrould feem then, that method, exa&nefs, 
and induftry are a difadvantage. Here Alciphron, turning 
to Lyficles, faid he could make the point very clear, if Eu- 
phranor had any notion of painting. 

Euph. — I never faw a firft-rate picture in my life, but 
have a tolerable collection of prints, and have feen fome 
good drawings. 

Alc — You know then the difference between the 
Dutch and the Italian manner. 

Euph. — I have fome notion of it. 

Alc — Suppofe now, a drawing finifhed by the nice 
and laborious touches of a Dutch pencil, and another off 
hand fcratched out in the free manner of a great Italian 
mafter. The Dutch piece, which hath cofl fo much pains 
and time, will be exact indeed, but without that force, 
fpirit, or grace, which appear in the other, and are the ef- 
fects of an eafy free pencil. Do but apply this, and the 
point will be clear. 

Euph. — Pray inform me, did thofe great Italian mailers 
begin and proceed in their art, without any choice of 
method or fubject, and always draw with the fame eafe 



3 8 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. I.] 

and freedom ? or did they obferve fome method, begin- 
ning with fimple and elementary parts, an eye, a nofe, a 
finger, which they drew with great pains and care, often 
drawing the fame thing, in order to draw it correctly, and 
fo proceeding, with patience and induftry, till after confid- 
erable length of time, they arrived at the free mafterly 
manner you fpeak of. If this were the cafe, I leave you 
to make the application. 

Alc. — You may difpute the matter if you pleafe. But 
a man of parts is one thing, and a pedant another. Pains 
and method may do for fome fort of people. A man 
muft be a long time kindling wet ftraw into a vile fmoth- 
ering flame, but fpirits blaze out at once. 

Euph. — The Minute Philofophers have, it feems, bet- 
ter parts than other men, which qualify them for a dif- 
ferent education. 

Alc — Tell me, Euphranor, what is that gives one 
man a better mein than another ; more politenefs in drefs, 
fpeech and motion ? Nothing but frequenting good com- 
pany. By the fame means, men get infenfibly a delicate 
tafte, a refined judgment, a certain politenefs in thinking 
and exprefling one's felf. No wonder if you, countrymen, 
are ftrangers to the advantage of polite converfation, 
which conftantly keeps the mind awake and adtive, exer- 
cifing its faculties, and calling forth all its ftrength and 
fpirit on a thoufand different occafions and fubje&s, that 
never come in the way of a book-worm in a college, no 
more than of a ploughman. 

Cri. — Hence thofe lively faculties, that quicknefs of 
apprehenfion, that flinefs of ridicule, that egregious tal- 
ent of wit and humour, which diftinguifh the gentlemen 
of your prqfeflion. 

Euph —It (hould feem then, that your feci: is made up 
of what you call fine gentlemen. 

Lys.— Not altogether, for we have among us fome 
contemplative fpirits of a coarkr education ; who, from 



[Dial. I.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 39 

obferving the behavior and proceedings of apprentices, 
watermen, porters, and affemblies of rabble in the ftreets, 
have arrived at a profound knowledge of human nature ; 
and made great difcoveries about the principles, fprings, 
and motives of moral actions. Thefe have demolifhed 
the received fyftems, and done a world of good in the 
city. 

Alc— I tell you, we have men of all forts and pro- 
feflions, plodding citizens, thriving ftock-jobbers, skill- 
ful men in bufinefs, polite courtiers, gallant men of the 
army ; but our chief ftrength, and flower of the flock, 
are thofe promifing young men, who have the advantage 
of a modern education. Thefe are the growing hopes of 
our fe6t, by whofe credit and influence, in a few years 
we expe£t to fee thofe great things accompliflied, that we 
have in view. 

Euph.-— I could never have imagined your feci: focon- 
fiderable. 

Alc. — There are, in England, many honeft folk as 
much in the dark about thefe matters as yourfelf. 

XII. To judge of the prevailing opinion among people 
of fafhion, by what a fenator faith in the houfe, a judge 
upon the bench, or a prieft in the pulpit, who all fpeak 
according to law, that is, to the reverend prejudices of 
our forefathers, would be wrong. You mould go into 
good company, and mind what men of parts and breed- 
ing fay, thofe who are beft heard, and moft admired, as 
well in public places of refort, as in private vifits. He 
only, who hath thefe opportunities, can know our real 
ftrength, our numbers, and the figure that we make. 

Euph.— -By your account, there muft be many Mi- 
nute Philofophers among the men of rank and fortune. 

Alc. — Take my word for it, not a few, and they do 
much contribute to the fpreading our notions. For he 
who knows the world, muft obferve, that fafhions con* 



4 o MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. I.] 

ftantly defcend. It is therefore the right way to propa- 
gate an opinion from the upper end. Not to fay, that 
the patronage of fuch men, is an encouragement to our 
authors. 

Euph. — It feems then, you have authors among you. 

Lys. — That we have, feveral, and thofe very great 
men, who have obliged the world with many ufeful and 
profound discoveries. 

Cri. — Mofchon, for inftance, hath proved that man 
and beaft are really of the fame nnture : That confequent- 
ly a man need only indulge his fenfes and appetites, to be 
as happy as a brute. Gorgias hath gone further, demon- 
ftrating man to be a piece of clock-work, or machine ; 
and that thought, or reafon, are the fame thing as the im- 
pulfe of one ball againft another. Cimon hath made no- 
ble ufe of thefe difcoveries, proving as clearly as any pro- 
pofition in mathematics, that conscience is a whim, and 
morality a prejudice ; and that a man is no more account- 
able for his actions than a clock is for ftriking. Tryphon 
hath written irrefragably on the ufefulnefs of vice. Thra- 
fenor hath confuted the foolifh prejudice men had againft 
atheifm, fhewing, that a republic of atheifts might live 
very happily together. Demylus hath made a jeft of loy- 
alty, and convinced the world there is nothing in it. To 
him, and another philofopher, of the fame (lamp, this age 
is indebted for difcovering, that public fpirit is an idle 
enthufiafm, which feizeth only on weak minds. It would 
be endlefs to recount the difcoveries made by writers of 
this feft. 

Lys.— But the mafter-piece, and finiming ftroke, is a 
learned anecdote of our great Diagoras y containing a de- 
monftration againft the being of God, which it is con- 
ceived the public is not yet ripe for. But I am afiured 
by fome judicious friends, who have feen it, that it is as 
clear as day light, and will do a world of good, at one 
blow demolifhing the whole fyftemof religion. Thefe 



[Dial. I.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 41 

difcoveries are publifhed by our philofophers, fometimes 
in volumes, but often in pamphlets and loofe papers, for 
their readier conveyance through the kingdom. And to 
them mult be afcribed that abfolute and independent free- 
dom, which groweth fo faft, to the terror of all bigots. 
Even the dull and ignorant begin to open their eyes, and 
to be influenced by the example and authority of fo many 
ingenious men. 

Euph. — It fhould feem, by this account, that your feet 
extend their difcoveries beyond religion ; and that loyalty 
to his prince, or reverence for the laws, are but mean 
tilings in the eye of a Minute Philofopher. 

Lys. — Verv mean ; we are too wife to think there is 
any thing facred, either in king or conftitution, or indeed 
in any thing elfe. A man of fenfe may, perhaps, feem to 
pay an occafional regard to his prince, but this is no more 
at bottom, than what he pays to God, when he kneels at 
the facrament, to qualify himfelf for an office. Fear God 
and honor the king, are a pair of flavifh maxims, which 
had for a long time crampt human nature, and awed not 
only weak minds, but even men of good understanding, 
till their eyes, as I obferved before, were opened by our 
philofophers. 

Euph. — Methinks, I can eafily comprehend, that when 
the fear of God is quite extinguished, the mind muft be 
very eafy with refpecl: to other duties, which become out- 
ward pretences and formalities, from the moment that 
they quit their hold upon the confeience : and confeience 
always fuppofeth the being of a God. But I ftill thought, 
that Englijhmeny of all denominations (how widely foever 
they might differ as to fome particular points) agreed in 
the belief of a God, and of fo much at leaft as is called 
natural religion. 

Alc. — I have already told you my own opinion of 
thofe matters, and what I know to be the opinion of many 
more. 

F 



42 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. I.] 

Cri. — Probably, Euphranor, by the title of Deifts y 
which is fometimes given to Minute Philofophers, you 
have been mifled to imagine, they believe and worfhip 
a God, according to the light of nature : but by living 
among them, you may foon be convinced of the contrary. 
They have neither time, nor place, nor form of divine 
worfhip : They offer neither prayers nor praifes to God 
in public : and, in their private practice, fhew a con- 
tempt or diilike even of the duties of natural religion. 
For inftance, the faying grace before and after meals, is a 
plain point of natural worfhip, and was once univerfally 
pra&ifed ; but, in proportion as this fe£t prevailed, it 
hath been laid afide, not only by the Minute Philofophers 
themfelves, who would be infinitely afhamed of fuch a 
weaknefs, as to beg God's bleffing, or give God thanks 
for their daily food ; but alfo by others, who are afraid 
Of being thought fools by the Minute Philofophers. 

Euph. — Is it poflible, that men, who really believe a 
God, mould yet decline paying fo eafy and reafonable a 
duty, for fear of incurring the contempt of atheifts ? 

Cri. — I tell you, there are many, who believing in their 
hearts the truth of religion, are yet afraid, or afhamed, to 
own it, left they mould forfeit their reputation with 
thofe, who have the good luck to pafs for great wits, and 
men of genius. 

Alc. — O Euphranory we mud make allowance for 
Crito's prejudice : he is a worthy^gentleman, and means 
well. But doth it not look like prejudice, to afcribe the 
refpe£t, that is paid our ingenious free-thinkers, rather to 
good luck than to merit ? 

Euph. — I acknowledge their merit to be very wonder- 
ful, and that thofe authors muft needs be great men, who 
are able to prove fuch paradoxes : for example, that fo 
knowing a man, as a Minute Philofopher, mould be a mere 
machine, or at beft no better than a brute. 

Alc.— It is a true maxim, that a man fhould think with 



[Dial. I.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 43 

the learned, and fpeak with the vulgar. I (houM be loth 
to place a gentleman of merit in fuch a light before preju- 
diced and ignorant men. The tenets of our philofophy 
have this, in common with many other truths in metaphy- 
fics, geometry, aftronomy, and natural philofophy, that vul- 
gar ears cannot bear them. All our difcoveries and no- 
tions are in themfelves true and certain ; but they are at 
prefent known only to the better fort, and would found 
ftrange and odd among the vulgar. But this, it is to be 
hoped, will wear off with time. 

Euph.— I do not wonder, that vulgar minds fhould be 
flartled at the notions of your philofophy. 

Cri. — Truly a very curious fort of philofophy, and 
much to be admired ! 

XIII. The profound thinkers of this way have taken a 
direct: contrary courfe to all the great philofophers of 
former ages, who made it their endeavor to raife and re- 
fine, human kind, and remove it as far as pofTible from 
the brute ; to moderate and fubdue men's appeties ; to 
remind them of the dignity of their nature ; to awaken 
and improve their fuperior faculties, and direct them to 
the nobleft objects ; to pofTefs men's minds with a high 
fenfe of divinity, of the fupreme good, and the immortality 
of the foul. They took great pains to ftrengthen the ob- 
ligations to virtue ; and upon ail thofe fubjects have 
wrought out noble theories, and treated with lingular 
force of reafon. But it feems, our Minute Philofophers 
act the reverfe of all other wife and thinking men ; it 
being their end and aim to erafe the principles of all that 
is great and good from the mind of man, to unhinge all 
order of civil life, to undermine the foundations of moral- 
ity, and, inflead of improving and ennobling our natures, 
to bring us down to the maxims and way of thinking of 
the moil uneducated and barbarous nations ; and even to 
degrade human kind to a level with the brute beads.— 



44 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. I.] 

And all the while they would pafs upon the world for 
men of deep knowledge. But in efFe£t, what is all this 
negative krfowledge better than downright favage ig- 
norance ? that there is no providence, no fpirit, no fu- 
ture ftate, no moral duty : truly a fine fyftem for an honeft 
man to own, or an ingenious man to value himfelf upon ! 

Alciphrony who heard this difcourfe, with fome uneafi- 
nefs, very gravely replied, difputes are not to be decided by 
the weight of authority, but by the force of reafon. You 
may pafs, indeed, general reflections on our notions, and 
call them brutal, and barbarous, if you pleafe : But it is 
fuch brutality, and fuch barbarifm, as few could have at- 
tained to, if men of the greatefl genius had not broke the 
ice ; there being nothing more difficult than to get the 
better of education, and conquer old prejudices. To re- 
move and caft off a heap of rubbifh, that has been gather- 
ing upon the foul from our very infancy, requires great 
courage, and great ftrength of faculties. Our philofophers, 
therefore, do well deferve the name of Efprits forts , men 
of ' Jlrong heads. Free-thinkers, and fuch like appellations, 
betokening great force and liberty of mind. It is very 
poffible, the heroic labours of thefe men may be reprefent- 
ed (for what is not capable of mifreprefentation ?) as a 
piratical plundering, and ftripping the mind of its wealth 
and ornaments ; when it is in truth the diverting it only of its 
prejudices, and reducing it to its untainted original ftate of 
nature. Oh nature ! the genuine beauty of pure nature ! 

Euph. — You feem very much taken with the beauty of 
nature. Be pleafed to tell me, Alciphron, what thofe 
things are, which you efteem natural, or by what mark I 
may know them. 

XIV. Alc. — For a thing to be natural, for inftance, to 
the mind of man, it muii appear originally therein, it-muft 
be univerfally in all men, it muft be invariably the fame 
in all nations and ages. Thefe limitations of original, 



[Dial. I.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 45 

univerfal, and invariable, exclude all thofe notions found in 
the human mind, which are the effecl: of cuftom and edu- 
cation. The cafe is the fame with refpecl: to all other 
fpecies of beings. A cat, for example, hath a natural in- 
clination to purfue a moufe, becaufe it agrees with the 
forementioned marks. But if a cat be taught to play- 
tricks, you will not fay thofe tricks are natural. For the 
fame reafon, if, upon a plumbtree, peaches and apricots 
are ingrafted, no body will fay they are the natural growth 
of the plumbtree. 

Euph. — but to return to Man : It feems you allow 
thofe things alone to be natural to him, which fliew them- 
felves upon his firft entrance into the world ; to wit, the 
fenfes, and fuch paflions and appetites as are difcovered 
upon the firft application of their refpe&ive objects. 

Alc— That is my opinion. 

Euph.-— Tell me, Alciphron, if from a young appletree, 
after a certain period of time, there mould fhooi forth 
leaves, blofibms, and apples *, would you deny thefe things 
to be natural, becaufe they did not difcover and difplay 
themfelves in the tender bud ? 

Alc— I would not. 

Euph. — And fuppofe, that in man, after a certain fez- 
fon, the appetite of luft, or the faculty of reafon, fhall 
moot forth, open, and difplay themfelves, as leaves and 
bloflbms do in a tree ; would you therefore deny them to 
be natural to him, becaufe they did not appear in his orig- 
inal infancy ? 

Alc. — I acknowledge I would not. 

Euph. — It feems, therefore, that the firft mark of a 
thing's being natural to the mind, was not warily laid 
down by you ; to wit, that it mould appear originally in it. 
Alc. — It feems fo. 

Euph. — Again, inform me, Alciphrcn, whether you do 
not think it natural for an orange-plant to produce orang- 
es ? 

Alc— I do. 



4 6 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. I] 

Euph.—- But plant it in the north-end of Great-Britain > 
and it fhall with care produce, perhaps, a good fallad ; in 
the fouthern parts of the fame ifland, it may with much 
pains and culture thrive, and produce indifferent fruit ; 
but in Portugal, or Naples, it will produce much better, 
with little or no pains. Is this true, or not ? 

Alc — It is true. 

Euph. — The plant being the fame in all places, doth 
not produce the fame fruit ; fun, foil, and cultivation, 
making a differenee. 

Alc. — I grant it. 

Euph. — And fince the cafe is, you fay, the fame with 
refpecVto all fpecies , why may we not conclude, by a 
parity of reafon, that things may be natural to human 
kind, and yet neither found in all men, nor invariably 
the fame where they are found ? 

Alc — Hold, Euphranor, you muft explain yourfclf 
further. I fhall not be over hafty in my concefhons. 

Lys — You are in the right, Alciphron, to ftand upon 
your guard. I do not like thefe enfnaring queftions. 

Euph. — I defire you to make no concefhons in com- 
plaifance to me, but only to tell me your opinion upon 
each particular, that we may understand one another, 
know wherein we agree, and proceed jointly in finding 
out the truth. But (added Euphranor, turning to Crito 
and me) if the gentlemen are againft a free and fair en- 
quiry, I fhall give them no further trouble. 

Alc — Our opinions will ftand the teft. We fear no 
trial. Proceed as you pleafe. 

Euph. — It feems then that, from what you have granted, 
it fhould follow, things may be natural to men, though 
they do not actually fhew themfelves in all men, nor in 
equal perfection ; there being as great difference of cul- 
ture, and every other advantage, with refpecl: to human 
nature, as is to be found with refpe£t to the vegetable na- 
ture of plants ; to ufe your own fimilitude. Is it fo, or 
not ? 

Alc — It is. 



[Dial. I.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 47 

Euph. — Anfwer me, Alciphron^ do not men, in all 
times and places, when they arrive at a certain age, ex- 
prefs their thoughts by fpeech ? 

Alc. — They do. 

Euph. — Should it not feem then, that language is na- 
tural ? 

Alc. — It mould. 

Euph* — And yet there is a great variety of languages. 

Alc. — I acknowledge there is. 

Euph. — From all this, will it not follow, a thing may 
be natural, and yet admit of variety ? 

Alc. — I grant it will. 

Euph. — Should it not feem, therefore, to follow, that 
a thing may be natural to mankind, though it have not 
thofe marks, or conditions, affigned 5 though it be not ori- 
ginal, univerfal, and invariable ? 

Alc — It mould. 

Euph. — And that confequently religious worfhip, and 
civil government, may be natural to man, notwithftand- 
ing they admit of fundry forms, and a different degrees of 
perfection ? 

Alc — It feems fo. 

Euph. — You have granted already, that reafon is na- 
tural to"mankind. 

Alc — I have. 

Euph. — Whatever, therefore, is agreeable to reafon, 
is agreeable to the nature of man. 

Alc — It is. 

Euph. — Will it not follow, from hence, that truth 
and virtue arc natural to man ? 

Alc — Whatever is reasonable, I admit to be natural. 

Euph. — And as thofe fruits, which grow from the moft 
generous and mature flock, in the choiceft foil, and with 
the bed culture, are moft efteemed ; even fo ought we 
not to think, thofe fublime truths which are the fruits of 
mature thought, and have been rationally deduced by men 



4 3 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. I/J 

of the beft and mod improved understandings, to be the 
choiceft productions of the rational nature of man ? And 
if fo, being in fa£t reafonable, natural, and true, they 
ought not to be efteemed unnatural whims, errors of edu- 
cation, and groundlefs prejudices, becaufe they are raifed 
and forwarded, by manuring and cultivating our tender 
minds ; becaufe they take early root, and fprout forth 
betimes, by the care and diligence of our inftru£tors. 

Alc — Agreed, provided ftiil they may be rationally 
deduced. But to take this for granted, of what men vul- 
garly call the truths of morality and religion, would be 
begging the queftion. 

Euph. — You are in the right ; I do not, therefore, take 
for granted, that they are rationally deduced : I only fup- 
pofe that, if they are, they muft be allowed natural to man, 
or in other words, agreeable to, and growing from, the 
mod excellent and peculiar part of human nature. 

Alc. — I have nothing to object to this. 

Euph. — What (hall we think then of your former affer- 
tions ? That nothing is natural to man, but what may be 
found in all men, in all nations and ages of the world : 
That to obtain a genuine view of human nature, we muft 
extirpate all the effects of education and inftruction, and 
regard only the fenfes, appetites, and paffions, which are 
to be found originally in all mankind : that, therefore, the 
notion of a God can have no foundation in nature, as not 
being originally in the mind, nor the fame in all men. Be 
pleafed to reconcile thefe things with your late conceffions, 
which the force of truth feems to have extorted from you. 

XV. Alc. — Tell me, Euphranor 9 whether truth be not 
one and the fame uniform invariable thing : And, if fo, 
whether the many different and inconfiftent notions, which 
men entertain of God and duty, be not a plain proof, there 
is no truth in them. 

Euph That truth is conftant and uniform I freely 



[Dial. I.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 49 

own, and that confequently opinions repugnant to each 
other cannot be true : But I think it will not hence fol- 
low, they are all alike falfe. If among various opinions 
about the fame thing, one be grounded on clear and evi- 
dent reafons ; that is to be thought true, and others only 
fo far as they confift with it. Reafon is the fame, and, 
rightly applied, will lead to the fame conclusions, in all 
times and places. Socrates, two thoufand years ago, feems 
to have reafoned himfelf into the fame notion of a God, 
which is entertained by the Philofophers of our days, if 
you will allow that name to any, who are not of your feci:. 
And the remark of Confucius, that a man mould guard in 
his youth againft luft, in manhood againft faction, and in 
old age againft covetoufnefs, is as current morality in Eu- 
rope as in China, 

Alc. — But Hill it would be a fatisfa&ion, if all men 
thought the fame way, difference of opinions implying un- 
certainty. 

Euph. — Tell me, Alciphron, what you take to be the 
caufe of a lunar eclipfe. 

Alc. — The fhadow of the earth interpofing between 
the fun and moon. 

Euph. — Are you allured of this ? 

Alc — Undoubtedly. 

Euph.— Are all mankind agreed in this truth ? 

Alc. — By no means. Ignorant and barbarous people 
aflign different ridiculous caufes of this appearance. 

Euph. — It feems then, there are different opinions 
about the nature of an eclipfe. 

Alc— There are. 

Euph. — And neverthelefs one of thefe opinions is true. 

Alc — It is. 

Euph. — Diverfity, therefore, of opinions about a thing, 
doth not hinder, but that thing may be, and one of the 
opinions concerning it may be true. 

Alc— This I acknowledge. 
G 



5 o MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. I.] 

Euph. — It fhould feem, therefore, that your argument 
againft the belief of a God, from the variety of opinions 
about his nature, is not conclufive. Nor do I fee, how you 
can conclude againft the truth of any moral or religious 
tenet, from the various opinions of men upon the fame 
fubject. Might not a man as well argue, that no hiftori- 
cal account of a matter of fa£t, can be true, when different 
relations are given of it ? or may we not as well infer, 
thatbecaufe the feveral fe£ts of Philofophy maintain differ- 
ent opinions, none of them can be in the right, not even 
the Minute Philofophers themfelves ? 

During this converfation Lyficles feemed uneafy, like 
one, that wifhed in his heart there was no God. Alciphron^ 
faid he, methinks you fit by very tamely, while Euphranor 
faps the foundation of our tenets. Be of good courage, 
replied A/ciphron, a fkilful gamefler has been known to 
ruin his adverfary, by yielding him fome advantage at firft. 
I am glad, faid he, turning to Euphranor ■, that you are 
drawn in to argue and make your appeals to reafon. For 
my part, wherever reafon leads, I fhall not be afraid to 
follow. Know then, Euphranor^ that I freely give up 
what you now contend for. I do not value the fuccefs of 
a few crude notions, thrown out in a loofe difcourfe, any 
more than the Turks do the lofs of that vile infantry, which 
they place in the front of their aranes, for no other end 
but to wafte the powder, and blunt the fwords of their 
enemies. Be allured, I have in referve a body of other- 
guefs arguments, which I am ready to produce. I will 
undertake to prove. 

Euph. — O Alciphron ! I do not doubt your faculty of 
proving. But before I put you to the trouble of any far- 
ther proofs, I fliould be glad to know, whether the notions 
of your Minute Philofophy are worth proving. I mean, 
whether they are of ufe and fervice to mankind ? 

XVI. Alc. — As to that, give me leave to tell you> a 



[Dial. IJ MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 5 i 

thing may be ufeful to one man's views, and not to anoth- 
er's : But truth is truth, whether ufeful or not, and mult 
not be meafured by the convenience of this or that man, 
or party of men. 

Euph. — But is not the general good of mankind to be 
regarded as a rule or meafure of moral truths, of all fuch 
truths as direct or influence the moral actions of men ? 

Alc. — That point is not clear to me. I know, indeed, 
that legillators, and divines, and politicians, have always 
alledged, that it is neceflary, to the well-being of mankind, 
that they mould be kept in awe by the flavifh notions of 
religion and morality.* But granting all this, how will it 
prove thefe notions to be true ? convenience is one thing, 
and truth is' another. A genuine Philofopher, therefore, 
will overlook all advantages, and confider only truth itfelf, 
as fuch. 

Euph. — Tell me, Alciphron> is your genuine Philofopher 
a wife man, or a fool ? 

Alc. — Without queftion, the wifeft of men. 

Euph. — Which is to be thought the wife man, he who 
a&s with defign, or he who a£ts at random ? 

Alc— He who a£ts with defign. 

Euph. — Whoever ads with defign, acts for fome end. 
Doth he not ? 

Alc. — He doth. 

Euph. — And a wife man for a good end ? 

Alc. — True. 

Euph. — And he fheweth his wifdom, in making choice 
of fit means to obtain his end. 

Alc. — I acknowledge it. 

Euph. — By how much, therefore, the end propofed is 
more excellent, and by how much fitter the means em- 
ployed are to obtain it, fo much the wifer is the agent to 
be efteemed. 

Alc — This feems to be true. 

* The moral virtues are the political offspring, which flattery begot up- 
on pride. Fable of the Bees, part the firft p. 37. 



52 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. I.] 

Euph. — -Can a rational agent propofe a more excellent 
end than happinefs ? 

Alc. — He cannot. 

Euph. — Of good things, the greater good is moil ex- 
cellent* 

Alc. — Doubtlefs. 

Euph. — Is not the general happinefs of mankind a 
greater good, than the private happinefs of one man, or 
of fome certain men ? 

Alc — It is. 

Euph. — Is it not, therefore, the moil excellent end ? 

Alc-— It feems fo. 

Euph. — Are not then thofe who purfue this end, by 
the properefl methods, to be thought the wifeft men ? 

Alc. — I grant they are. 

Euph. — Which is a wife man governed by, wife or 
foolifh notions. 

Alc. — -By wife, doubtlefs. 

Euph. — It feems then to follow, that he, who promotes 
the general well-being of mankind, by the proper neceffa- 
ry means, is truly wife, and acts upon wife grounds. 

Alc. — It mould feem fo. 

Euph. — And is not folly of an oppofite nature to wif- 
dom ? 

Alc. — It is. 

Euph.— —Might it not, therefore, be inferred, that 
thofe men are foolifh, who go about to unhinge fuch 
principles, as have a neceflary connexion with the geheral 
good of mankind ? 

Alc — Perhaps this might be granted : but, at the 
fame time, I muft obferve, that it is in my power to de- 
ny it. 

Euph.— How ! you will not furely deny the conclu- 
fidri, when you admit the premifes. 

Alc — I would fain know upon what terms we ar- 
gue i whether, in this progrefs of queftion and anfwer, 



[Dial. I.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 53 

if a man makes a flip, it be utterly irretrievable ? For, 
if you are on the catch, to lay hold of every advantage, 
without allowing for furprife or inattention, I mud tell 
you, this is not the way to convince my judgment. 

Euph. O Alciphron ! I aim not at triumph, but at 

truth. You are therefore at full liberty to unravel all, 
that hath been faid, and to recover, or correct, any flip, 
you have made. But then, you muft diftin&ly point it 
out, otherwife it will be impoflible ever to arrive at any 
conclufion. 

Alc. — I agree with you, upon thefe terms, jointly to 
proceed in fearch of truth, for to that I am (incerely de- 
voted. In the progrefs of our prefent inquiry, I was, it 
feems, guilty of an oversight, in acknowledging the gene- 
ral happinefs of mankind to be a greater good than the 
particular happinefs of one man. For in fact, the indi- 
vidual happinefs of every man alone conftitutes his own 
entire good. The happinefs of other men making no 
part of mine, is not, with refpecl: to me, a good ; I mean 
a true natural good. It cannot therefore be a reafonable 
end, to be propofed by me, in truth and nature (for I do 
not fpeak of political pretences) fmce no wife man will 
purfue an end which doth not concern him. This is the 
voice of nature. Oh nature ! thou art the fountain, ori- 
ginal, and pattern of all that is good and wife. 

Euph. — You would like then to follow nature, and 
propofe her as a guide and pattern for your imitation. 

Alc- — Of all things. 

Euph. — Whence do you gather this refpect for na- 
ture ? 

Alc. — From the excellency of her productions. 

Euph. — In a vegetable, for inftance, you fay there 
is ufe and excellency, becaufe the feveral parts of it are 
fo connected, and fitted to each other, as to protect and 
nourifli the whole, make the individual grow, and propa- 
gate the kind ; and becaufe, in its fruits, or qualities, it is 



54 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. I.] 

adapted to pleafe the fenfe, or contribute to the benefit of 
man. 

Alc- — Even fo. 

Euph. — In like manner, do you not infer the excel- 
lency of animal bodies, from obferving the frame and 
fitnefs of their feveral parts, by which they mutually 
confpire to the well-being of each other, as well as of 
the whole ? Do you not alfo obferve a natural union, and 
confent, between animals of the fame kind, and that even 
different kinds of animals have certain qualities, and in- 
itin&s, whereby they contribute to the exercife, nourifh- 
ment, and delight of each other ? Even the inanimate, 
unorganized elements, feem to have an excellence rela- 
tive to each other. Where was the excellency of water, 
if it did not caufe herbs and vegetables to fpring from the 
earth, and put forth flowers and fruits ? And what 
would become of the beauty of the earth, if it was not 
warmed by the fun, moiftened by water, and fanned by 
air ? Throughout the whole fyftem of the vifible and na- 
tural world, do you not perceive a mutual connexion and 
correfpondence of parts ? And is it not from hence, that 
you frame an idea of the perfection and order, and beau- 
ty of nature ? 

Alc. — All this I grant. 

Euph. — And have not the floics heretofore faid (who 
were no more bigots than you are) and did you not your- 
felf fay, this pattern of order was worthy the imitation of 
rational agents ? 

Alc. — I do not deny this to be true. 

Euph. — Ought we not therefore to infer the fame 
union, order, and regularity, in the moral world, that 
we perceive to be in the natural ? 

Alc — We ought. 

Euph. — Should it not therefore feem to follow, that 
reafonable creatures were, as the philosophical emperor * 
* M. Antonin. 1. 4, 



[Dial. L] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 55 

obferves, made one for another ; and confequently, that 
man ought not to confider himfelf as an independent in- 
dividual, whofe happinefs is not connected with that of 
other men ; but rather as the part of a whole, to the 
common good of which he ought to confpire, and order his 
ways and actions fuitably, if he would live according to 
nature ? 

Alc.« — Suppofing this to be true, what then ? 

Euph. — Will it not follow, that a wife man mould 
confider, and purfue his private good, with regard to, 
and in conjunction with, that of other men ? in granting 
of which, you thought yourfelf guilty of an overfight j 
though, indeed, the fympathy of pain and pleafure, and 
the mutual affections, by which mankind are knit toge- 
ther, have been always allowed a plain proof of this point : 
And though it was the conftant doctrine of thofe, who 
were efteemed the wifeft, and moft thinking men among 
the ancients, as the platonifts, peripatetics, and ft'oics ; 
to fay nothing of chriftians, whom you pronounce to be 
an unthinking, prejudiced fort of people. 

Alc — I fhali not difpute this point with you. 

Euph. — Since, therefore, we are fo far agreed, mould 
it not feem to follow, from the premifes , that the belief 
of a God, of a future ftate, and of moral duties, are the 
only wife, right, and genuine principles of human con- 
duel:, in cafe they have a necerTary connexion with the 
well-being of mankind ? This conclusion you have been 
led to by your own conceffions, and by the analogy of 
nature. 

Alc. — I have been drawn into it, ftep by ftep, through 
feveral preliminaries, which I cannot well call to mind ; 
but one thing I obferve, that you build on the neceffary 
connexion, thofe principles have with the well-being of 
mankind ; which is a point neither proved nor granted. 

Lys. — This I take to be a grand fundamental prejudice, 
as I doubt not, if I had time I could make appear. But 



S 6 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. I.] 

it is now late, and we will, if you think fit, defer this 
fubje£t till to-morrow. Upon which motion of Lyfi- 
clesy we put an end to our converfation for that even- 
ing. 



THE 
SECOND DIALOGUE. 

I. Vulgar Error , That Vice is hurtful. II. The Benefit of 
DrunkennefS) Gaming, and Whoring. III. Prejudice 
againjl Vice wearing off. IV. Its Uftfulnefs illujlrated 
in the Infiances o/" Callicles and Telefiila. V. The Re a- 

foning c/*Lyficles in behalf of Vice examined. VI. Wrong 
to punijh Aclions ivhen the DoBrines, whence they flow, are 
tolerated. VII. Hazardous Experiment of the Minute 
Philofophers. VIII. Their Doclrine of Circulation and 
Revolution. IX. Their Senfe of a Reformation. X. Rich- 
es alone not the Public Weal. XI. Authority of Minute 
Philofophers : their Prejudice againjl Religion. XII. Ef- 

fecls of Luxury : Virtue, whether notional P XIII. Pleaf- 
ure of Senfe. XIV. What fort of Pleafure mofl natural 
to Man. XV. Dignity of Human Nature. XVI. Pleaf- 
ure miflaken. XVII. Amufements, Mifery, and Cow- 
ardife of Minute Philofophers. XVIII. Rakes cannot 
reckon. XIX. Abilities and Succefs of Minute Philofophers. 
XX. Happy Effecls of the Minute Philofophy in particular 
Infiances. XX L Their free Notions about Government. 

XXII. England the proper Soil for Minute Philofophy. 

XXIII. The Policy and Addrefs of its Proffors. XXIV. 
Merit of Minute Philcjlphers towards the Public. XXV. 
Their Notions and Character. XXVI. Their Tendency 
towards Popery and Slavery. 

L NT 

JL ^| EXT morning Alciphron and Lyfcles faid, the 
weather was fo fine, they had a mind to fpend the day 
abroad, and take a cold dinner under a fhade, in fome 
pleafant part of the country. Whereupon, after break- 
fad, we went down to a beach, about half a mile off; 
where we walked on the fmooth fand, with the ocean on 

H 



58 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. II] 

one hand, and on the other wild broken rocks, intermix- 
ed with fhady trees and fprings of water, till the fun be- 
gan to be uneafy. We then withdrew into a hollow 
glade, between two rocks, where we had no fooner feat- 
ed ourfclves, but Lyficles, addreffing himfelf to Euphra- 
nor, faid, I am now ready to perform what I undertook 
laffc evening, which was to fhew, there is nothing in 
that necefiary connexion, which fome men imagine, be- 
tween .thofe principles, you contend for, and the public 
good. I freely own, that if this queftion was to be de- 
cided by the authority of legiflators, or philofophers, it 
muft go againfc us. For thofe men generally take it for 
granted, that vice is pernicious to the public ; and that 
men cannot be kept from vice, but by the fear of God, 
and the fenfe of a future ftate ; whence they are induced 
to think, the belief of fuch things necefiary to the well- 
being of human kind. This falfe notion hath prevailed 
for many ages in the world, and done an infinite deal of 
mifchief, being, in truth, the caufe of religious eftablifh- 
ments, and gaining the protection and encourageme-nt of 
laws and magiftrates to the clergy and their fuperflitions. 
Even fome of the wifeft among -the ancients, who agreed 
with our feci: in denying a Providence, and the immor- 
tality of the foul, had neverthelefs the weaknefs to lie 
under the common prejudice, that vice was hurtful to 
foeieties of men. But England hath, of late, produced 
great philofophers, who have undeceived the world, and 
proved to a demonftration, that private vices are public 
benefits. This difcovery was refenfed to our times, and 
our feci: hath the glory of it. 

Cri. — It is poffible fome men, of fine underftandmg, 
might, in former ages, have had a glimpfe of this impor- 
tant truth : But, it may be prefumed, they lived in igno- 
rant times, and bigoted countries, which were not ripe 
for fuch a difcovery. 

Lys. — Men of narrow capacities and fhort fight, being 
able to fee no further than one link in a chain of confe- 



[Dial. II.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 59 

quences, are {hocked at fmall evils, which attend upon 
vice. But thofe, who can enlarge their view, and look 
through a long feries of events, may behold happineis re- 
falting from vice, and good fpringing out of evil, in a 
thoufand inftances. To prove my point, I fhall not trou- 
ble you with authorities, or far-fetched arguments, but 
bring you to plain matter of fact. Do but take a view of 
each particular vice, and trace it through its effe&s and 
confequences, and then you will clearly perceive the 
advantage it brings to the public. 

II. Drunkennefs, for inftance, is by your fober mor- 
alifts thought a pernicious vice ; but it is for want of 
confidering the good effects that flow from it. Tor, ia 
the flrlt place, it increafes the malt tax, a principal branch 
of his majeily's revenue, and thereby promotes the fafety, 
ftrength, and glory of the nation. Secondly, it employs a 
great numberof hands, the brewer, the maltfter, the plough- 
man, the dealer in hops, the fmith, the carpenter, the 
bralier, the joiner, with all other artificers, hecefTary to 
fupply thofe enumerated, with their refpecfive inftru- 
ments and utenfils. All which advantages are procured 
from drunkennefs, in the vulgar way, by ftrong beer. — 
This point is fo clear, it will admit of no difpute. But 
while you are forced to allow thus much, I forefee you 
are ready to object againft drunkennefs, occafioned by 
wine and fpir,its, as exporting wealth into foreign coun- 
tries. But do you not reflect on the number of hands, 
which even this fets on work at home : The diftillers, the 
vintners, the merchants, the failors, the fhipwrights, 
with all thofe who are employed towards victualing and 
fitting out fhips, which, upon a nice computation, will 
be found to include an incredible variety of trades and 
callings. Then for freighting our fhips, to anfwer thefe 
foreign importations, all our manufactures throughout 
the kingdom are employed, the fpinners, the weavers, 



<5o MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. II.] 

the dyers, the wool-combers, the carriers, the packers : 
And the fame may be faid of many other manufactures, 
as well as the woollen. And if it be further confidered, 
how many men are enriched by all the forementioned 
ways of trade and bufinefs, and the expenfes of thefe 
men, and their families, in all the feveral articles of con- 
venient and fafhionable living, whereby all forts of trades 
and callings, not only at home, but throughout all parts, 
wherever our commerce reaches, are kept in employment ; 
you will be amazed at the wonderfully extended fcene of 
benefits which arife from the fmgle vice of drunkennefs, 
fo much run down and declaimed againft by all grave re- 
formers. With as much judgment, your half-wiued folk 
are accuftomed to cenfure gaming. And indeed (fuch is 
the ignorance and folly of mankind) a gamefter and a 
drunkard are thought no better than public nuifances, 
when, in truth, they do, each in their way, greatly con- 
duce to the public benefit. If you look only on the fur- 
face and firft appearance of things, you will no doubt 
think playing at cards a very idle and fruitlefs occupation. 
But dive deeper, and you mail perceive this idle amufe- 
ment employs the card-maker, and he fets the paper-mills 
at work, by which the poor rag-man is fupported ; not 
to mention the builders, and workers in wood and iron, 
that are employed in erecting and furnifhing thofe mills. 
Look ftill deeper, and you fhall find that candles and chair- 
hire, employ the induftrious and the poor, who, by thefe 
means, come to be relieved by (harpers and gentlemen, 
who would not give one penny in charity. But you will 
fay, that many gentlemen and ladies are ruined by play, 
without confidering, that what one man lofes, another 
gets, and that confequently as many are made as ruined : 
Mcney changeth hands, and in this circulation, the life 
of bufinefs and commerce confifts. When money is fpent, 
it is all one to the public who fpends it. Suppofe a fool 
of quality becomes the dupe of a man of mean birth and 



[Dial. II] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 61 

circumftance, who has more wit. In this cafe, what 
harm doth the public fuftain ? Poverty is relieved, inge- 
nuity is rewarded, the money flays at home, and has a 
lively circulation, the ingenious (harper being enabled to 
fet up an equipage, and fpend handfomely, which can- 
not be done without employing a world of people. But 
you will perhaps object, that a man reduced by play may 
be put upon defperate courfes, hurtful to the public. 
Suppofe the word, and that he turns highwayman, fuch 
a man hath a ihort life, and a merry. While he lives, 
he fpends, and, for one that he robs, makes twenty the 
better for his expenfe. And when his time is come, a 
poor family may be relieved by fifty or a hundred pounds 
fet upon his head. A vulgar eye looks on many a man 
as an idle or mifchievous fellow, whom a true philofo- 
pher, viewing in another light, confiders as a man of 
pleafant occupation, who diverts himfelf, and benefits the 
public : And that with fo much eafe, that he employs a 
multitude of men, and fets an infinite maehine in motion, 
without knowing the good he does, or even intending to 
do any ; which is peculiar to that gentleman-like way of 
doing good by vice. I was confidering play, and that 
infenfibly led me to the advantages, which attend robbing 
on the highway. Oh the beautiful and never enough ad- 
mired connexion of vices ! It would take too much time 
to fliew how they all hang together, and what an infinite 
deal of good takes its rife from every one of them. One 
word for a favorite vice, and I fliall leave you to make out 
the reil yourfelf, by applying the fame way of reafoning 
to all other vices. A poor girl, who might not have the 
fpending of half a crown a week, in what you call an hon- 
ed way, no fooner halt the good fortune to be a kept 
miftrefs, but (he employs milliners, laundreffes, tire- 
women, mercers, and a number of other trades, to the 
benefit of her country. It would be endlefs to trace and 
purfue every particular vice through its confequences and 



6z MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. II j 

effects, and fhew the vaft advantage they all are of to the 
public. The true fprings that actuate the great machine 
of commerce, and make a flourifhing ftate, have been hi- 
therto little underftood. Your moralifts and divines have, 
for fo many ages, been corrupting the genuine fenfe of 
mankind, and filling their heads with fuch abfurd princi- 
ples, that it is in the power of few men to contemplate 
real life with an unprejudiced eye. And fewer ftill have 
fufficient parts and fagacity to purfue a long train of con- 
fequences, relations and dependences ; which mud be 
done, in order to form a juft and intire notion of the pub- 
lic weal. But, as I faid before, our fe£t hath produced 
men capable of thefe difcoveries, who have difplayed 
them in a full light, and made them public for the benefit 
of their country. 

III., Oh ! Said Euphranor, who heard this difcourfe 
with great attention, you Ly fides are the very man I want- 
ed, eloquent and ingenious, knowing in the principles of 
your feci:, and willing to impart them. Pray tell me, do 
thefe principles find an eafy admiflion in the world ? 

Lys. — They do among ingenious men, and people 
of faihion, though you will fometimes meet with ftrong 
prejudices againft them in the middle fort, an effecT; of 
ordinary talents and mean breeding. 

Euph. — I mould wonder if men were not fhocked at 
notions of fuch a furprifing nature, fo contrary to all laws, 
education and religion. 

Lys. — They would be fhocked much more, if it had 
not been for the fkilful addrefs of our Philofophers ; who, 
confidering that moft men are influenced by names, rather 
than things, have introduced a certain polite way of fpeak- 
ing, which leffens much of the abhorrence and prejudice 
againft vice. 

Euph. — Explain me this. 

Lys.— Thus, in our dialect, a vicious man, is a man of 



[Dial. II.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 6 3 

pleafure : A fharper is one that plays the whole game : 
A lady is faid to have an affair : A gentleman to be gal- 
lant : A rogue in bufinefs, to be one that knows the 
world. By this means, we have no fuch things as fots, 
debauchees, whores or rogues, in the beau monde, who may 
enjoy their vices without incurring difagreeable appella- 
tions. 

Euph. — Vice then is, it feems, a fine thing with an ug- 
ly name. 

Lys. — Be afiured it is. 

Euph. — It fhould feem then, that Plato's fearing left 
youth might be corrupted, by thofe fables which repre- 
sented the gods vicious, was an effecT: of his weakness 
and ignorance. 

Lys. — It was, take my word for it. 

Euph. — And yet Plato had kept good company, and liv- 
ed in a court. And Cicero, who knew the world well, 
had a profound efteem for him. 

Cri. — I tell you, Euphranor, that Plato and Tully might, 
perhaps, make a figure in Athens, or Rome : But were they 
to revive here in our days, they would pafs but for under- 
bred pedants, there being at moft coffee-houfes in London f 
feveral able men, who could convince them they knew 
nothing in, what they are valued fo much for, morals and 
politics. 

Lys. — How many long-headed men do I know, both in 
the court-end and the city, with five times Plato's fenfe, 
who care not one ftraw what notion their fohs have of 
God or virtue ! 

IV. Cri. — I can illuftrate this do&rine of Lyficles, by 
examples, that will make you perceive its force. Cleophon, 
a Minute Philofopher, took ftri<St care of his fon's educa- 
tion, and entered him betimes in the principles of his feci". 
Callicles (that was his fon's name) being a youth of parts, 
made a notable progrefs ; infomuch that, before he became 



64 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. II] 

of age, he killed his old covetous father with vexation, and 
foon after ruined the eftate he left behind him ; or, in 
other words, made a prefent of it to the public, fpreading 
the dunghill, collected by his anceftors, over the face of 
the nation, and making cut of one overgrown eftate, fev- 
eral pretty fortunes for ingenious men, who live by the 
vices of die great. Tele/i/Ia, though a woman of quality 
and fpirit, made no figure in the world, till fhe was in- 
ftru£ted by her hufband in the tenets of the Minute Phi- 
lofophy, which he wifely thought would prevent her giv- 
ing any thing in charity. From that time fhe took a turn 
towards expenfive diverfions, particularly deep play : by 
which means fhe foon transferred a confiderable fhare of 
his fortune, to feveral acute men, fkilled in that myftery, 
who wanted it more, and circulate it quicker than her 
hufband would have done, who, in return, hath got an heir 
to his eftate, having never had a child before. That fame 
Tekfilla, who was good for nothing fo long as fhe believed 
her catechifm, now fhines in all public places, is a lady of 
gallantry and fafhion, and has by her extravagant parade 
in lace, and fine clothes, raifed a fpirit of expenfe in other 
ladies, very much to the public benefit, though it muft be 
owned, to the mortification of many frugal hufbands. 

While Crito related thefe facls with a grave face, I 
could not forbear fmiling ; which Lyficles obferving, fuper- 
ficial minds, faid he, may perhaps find fomething to ridi- 
cule in thefe accounts : But all, who are mafters of a juft 
way of thinking, muft needs fee, that thofe maxims, the 
benefit whereof is univerfal, and the damage only particu- 
lar to private perfons or families, ought to be encouraged 
in a wife commonwealth. For my part, faid Euph-anor^ I 
profefs myfelf to be rather dazzled and confounded, than 
convinced by your reafoning, which, as you obferved your- 
felf, taking in the connexion of many diftant points, requires 
great extent of thought to comprehend it. I muft there- 
fore intreat you to bear with my defects, fufFer me to take 



[Dial. II.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 6$ 

to pieces what is too big to be received at once : And 
where I cannot keep pace with you, permit me to follow 
you, ftep by ftep, as fa ft as I can. 

Lys. — There is reafon in what you fay. Every one 
cannot fuddenly take a long concatenation of argument. 

V. Euph. — Your feveral arguments feem to center in 
this, that vice circulates money, and promotes induftry, 
which caufeth a people to flouriftu Is it not fo ? 

Lys. — It is. 

Euph.— *And the reafon that vice produceth this effect, 
is, becaufe it caufeth an extravagant confumption, which 
is the moll beneficial to the manufacturers, their encour- 
agement confifting in a quick demand and high price. 

Lys.— True. 

Euph.— Hence you think, a drunkard moil beneficial to 
the brewer and the vintner, as caufing a quick confump- 
tion of liquor, inafmuch as he drinks more than other men. 

Lys. — Without doubt. 

Euph. — Say, Lyficks> who drinks mod, a fick man or a 
healthy ? 

Lys.— A healthy ? 

Euph. — And which is healthieft, a fober man or a 
drunkard ? 

Lys. — A fober man. 

Euph. — A fober man therefore, in health, may drink 
more than a drunkard when he is fick. 

Lys. — He may. 

Euph. — What think you, will a man confume more 
meat and drink in a long life or a fhort one ? 

Lys. — In a long. 

Euph. — A fober healthy man, therefore, in a long 
life, may circulate more money, by eating and drinking, 
than a glutton or drunkard, in a fhort one. 

Lys. — What then ? 

Euph. — Why then, it mould feem, that he may be 
I 



66 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. II.] 

more beneficial to the public, even in this way of eating 
and drinking. 

Lys.- — I fhall never own that temperance is the way to 
promote drinking. 

Euph. — But you will own that ficknefs leflens, and 
death puts an end to all drinking. The fame argument 
will hold, for aught I can fee, with refpect to all other 
vices that impair men's health, and fhorten their lives. 
And, if we admit this, it will not be fo clear a point, that 
vice hath merit towards the public. 

Lys. — But admitting that fome artificers, or traders, 
might be as well encouraged by the fober men as the vi- 
cious ; what (hall we fay of thofe, who fubfift altogether 
by vice and vanity ? 

Euph.— If fuch there are, may they not be otherwife 
employed without lofs to the public ? Tell me, LyJicleS) is 
there any thing in the nature of vice, as fuch, that renders 
it a public bleffing, or is it only the confumption it occa- 
fions ? 

Lys. — I have already (hewn how it benefits the nation, 
by the confumption of its manufactures. 

Euph. — And you have granted, that a long and healthy 
life confumes more than a fhort and fickly one ; and you 
will not deny, that many confume more than one. Upon 
the whole then, compute and fay, which is moft likely to 
promote the induftry of his countrymen, a virtuous marri- 
ed man, with a healthy numerous offspring, and who feeds 
and clothes the orphans in his neighborhood, or a fafhion- 
able rake about town. I would fain know, whether money 
fpent innocently, doth not circulate as well as that fpent 
upon vice. And if fo, whether, by your own rule, it doth 
not benefit the public as much ? 

Lys. — What I have proved, I proved plainly, and there 
is no need of more words about it. 

Euph. — You feem to me, to have proved nothing, un- 
lefs you can make it out, that it is impoffible to fpend a 



[Dial. II.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 67 

fortune innocently. I fhould think the public weal of a 
nation confifts in the number and good condition of its 
inhabitants : Have you any thing to object to this ? 

Lys. — I think not. 

Euph. — To this end which would moft conduce, the 
employing men in open air, and manly exercife, or in fe- 
dentary bufinefs within doors ? 

Lys.-— The former, I fuppofe. 

Euph. — Should it not feem therefore, that building, 
gardening, and agriculture, would employ men more ufe- 
fully to the public, than if tailors, barbers, perfumers, 
diftillers, and fuch arts were multiplied. 

Lys. — All this I grant ; but it makes againft you. For 
what moves men to build and plant but vanity, and what 
is vanity but vice ? 

Euph. — But if a man mould do thofe things for his 
convenience or pleafure, and in proportion to his fortune, 
without a foolifh oflentation or overrating them beyond 
their due value, they would not then be the effect of vice ; 
and how do you know but this may be the cafe ? 

Cri.— One thing I know, that the readieft way to 
quicken that fort of induftry, and employ carpenters, ma- 
fons, fmiths, and all fuch trades, would be to put in prac- 
tice the happy hint of a celebrated Minute Philofopher ; 
who, by profound thinking, has difcovered, that burning 
the city of London would be no fuch bad action, as filly 
prejudiced people might poflibly imagine ; inafmuch as it 
would produce a quick circulation of property, transferring 
it from the rich to the poor, and employing a great num- 
ber of artificers of all kinds. This, at leaft, cannot be deni- 
ed, that it hath opened a new way of thinking to our incen- 
diaries, of which the public hath of late begun to reap the 
benefit. 

Euph. — I cannot fufficiently admire this ingenious 
thought. 



6S MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. II.] 

VI. But methinks it would be dangerous to make fuch 
notions public. 

Cri. — Dangerous ! to whom ? 

Euph. — In the firft place, to the publifher. 

Cri. — That is a miftake ; for fuch notions have been 
publiflied and met with due applaufe, in this moft wife and 
happy age of free- thinking, free-fpeaking, free-writing, 
and free-acting. 

Euph. — How ! may a man then publifh and practife 
fuch things with impunity ? 

Cri. — To fpeak the truth, I am rot fo clear as to the 
practical part. An unlucky accident now and then befals an 
ingenious man. The Minute Philofopher, Magirus, being 
defirous to benefit the public, by circulating an eftate pof- 
fefTed by a near relation, who had not the heart to fpend it, 
foon convinced himfelf, upon thefe principles, that it 
would be a very worthy action to difpatch out of the way 
fuch a ufelefs fellow, to whom he was next heir. But for 
this laudable attempt, Ke had the misfortune to be hanged 
by an under-bred judge and jury. Could any thing be 
more unjuft ? 

Euph. — Why unjuft ? 

Cri. — Is it not unjuft to punifh actions, when the prin- 
ciples, from which they directly follow, are tolerated and 
applauded by the public ? can any thing be more inconfift- 
ent, than to condemn in practice, what is approved in fpec- 
ulation ? truth is one and the fame j it being impoffible a 
thing fhould be practically wrong, and fpeculatively right. 
Thus much is certain, Magirus was perfect mafter of all 
this theory, and argued moft acutely about it with a friend 
of mine, a little before he did the fact, for* which he died. 

Lys. — The beft on't is, the world every day grows wi- 
fer ; though it muft be owned, the writers of our feet have 
not yet fhaken off all refpect for human laws, whatever 
they may do as to divine. It feems they venture no fur- 
ther, than to recommend an inward principle of vice, ope- 
rating under an outward reftraint of human laws. 



[Dial. II] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 6> 

Cri. — That writer, who confiders man only as an in- 
ftrument of paflion, who abfolves him from all ties of con- 
science and religion, and leaves him no law to refpe& or 
to fear, but the law of the land, is to be fure a public bene- 
fit. You miflake, Euphranor, if you think the Minute 
Philofophers idle theorilts : They are men of practical 
views. 

Euph. — As much as I love liberty, I mould be afraid 
to live among fuch people : it would be, as Seneca fome- 
where exprefleth it, in libertate bcllis ac tyrannis f&viore. 

Lys. — What do you mean by quoting Plato and Seneca ? 
Can you imagine a free-thinker is to be influenced by the 
authority of fuch old-fafhioned writers ? 

Euph. — You, Lyficles, and your friend, have quoted to 
me ingenious moderns, profound fine gentlemen, with new 
names of authors in the Minute Philofophy, to whofe 
merits I am a perfect ftranger. Suffer me, in my turn, to 
cite fuch authorities as I know, and have pafTed for many 
ages upon the world. 

VII. But, authority apart, what do you fay to expe- 
rience ? My obfervation can reach as far as a private fam- 
ily : and fome wife men have thought, a family may be 
confidered as a fmall kingdom, or a kingdom as a great 
family. Do you admit this to be true ? 

Lys. — If I fay yes, you will make an inference ; and 
if I fay no, you will demand a reafon. The bed way is, 
to fay nothing at all. There is, I fee, no end of anfwer- 
ing. 

Euph. — If you give up the point you undertook to 
prove, there is an end at once : But if you hope to con- 
vince me, you mull anfwer my qucftions, and allow me 
the liberty to argue and infer. 

Lys. — Well, fuppofe I admit that a kingdom may be 
confidered as a great family. 

Eufii.— I (hall alk you then, whether ever you knew 



70 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. II.] 

private families thrive by thofe vices you think fo benefi- 
cial to the public ? 

Lys. — Suppofe I have not ? 

Euph. — Might not a man, therefore, by a parity of 
reafon, fufpe£t, their being of that benefit to the public ? 

Lys.—- Fear not, the next age will thrive and flourifh. 

Euph. — Pray tell me, Lyjicks, Suppofe you faw a 
fruit of a new untried kind ; would you recommend it 
to your own family to make a full meal of ? 

Lys. — I would not. 

Euph. — Why then would you try, upon your own 
country, thefe maxims, which were never admitted in any 
other ? 

Lys. — The experiment mull begin fomewhere; and 
we are refolved our own country fhall have the honor and 
advantage of it# 

Euph. — O Lyficles ! hath not Old England fubfifted 
for many ages without the help of your notions ? 

Lys. — -She has. 

Euph. — And made fome figure ? 

Lys. — I grant it. 

Euph. — Why then mould you make her run the rifk 
of a new experiment, when it is certain (he may do with- 
out it ? 

Lys. — But we would make her do better. We would 
produce a change in her, that never was feen in any nation. 

Euph. — Salluft obferves, that a little before the down- 
fall of the Roman greatnefs, avarice (the effecl: of luxury) 
had erafed the good old principles of probity and juftice, 
had produced a contempt for religion, and made every 
thing venal : while ambition bred diflimulation, and cauf- 
ed men to unite in clubs and parties, not from honorable 
motives, but narrow and iriterefted views. The fame 
hiftorian obferves, of that ingenious free-thinker, Catiline^ 
that he made it his bufinefs to infinuate himfelf into the 
acquaintance of young men, whofe minds, unimproved 



[Dial. II.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 7 r 

by years and experience, were more eafily feduced. I 
know not how it happens, but thefe paffages have occur- 
red to my thoughts more than once during this converfa- 
tion. 

Lys. — Sallujl was a fententious pedant. 

Euph. — But confult any hiftorian : look into any wri- 
ter. See, for inftance, what Xenophon and Livy fay of 
Sparta and Rome y and then tell me, if vice be not the like- 
lieft way to ruin and enflave a people. 

Lys. — When a point is clear by its own evidence, I 
never think it worth while to confult old authors about it. 

Cri. — It requires much thought and delicate obferva- 
tion, to go to the bottom of things. But one who hath 
come at truth with difficulty, can impart it with eafe. I 
will therefore, Euphranor., explain to you in three words 
(what none of your old writers ever dreamed of) the 
true caufe of ruin to thofe ftates. You muil know, that 
vice and virtue, being oppofite and contradictory princi- 
ples, both working at once in a Hate, will produce con- 
trary effects, which interline difcord mull needs tend to 
the diffolution and ruin of the whole. But it is the de- 
Ggn of our Minute Philofophers, by making men wicked 
upon principle, a thing unknown to the ancients, fo to 
weaken and deftroy the force of virtue, that its effedh 
(hall not be felt in the public. In which cafe, vice be- 
ing uncontrouled, without let or impediment of princi- 
ple, pure and genuine, without allay of virtue, the na- 
tion muft doubtlefs be very flourifhing and triumphant. 

Euph. — Truly, a noble fcheme ! 

Cri. — And in a fair way to take effect. For our young 
proficients in the Minute Philofophy, having, by a rare 
felicity of education, no tincture of bigotry or prejudice, 
do far outgo the old ftanders and profeffors of the feci; ; 
who, though men of admirable parts ; yet, having had 
the misfortune to be imbued in their childhood withfome 
religious notions, could never after get entirely rid of 



72 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. II.] 

them ; but dill retain fome (mail grains of confcience and 
fuperftition, which are a check upon the nobleft genius. 
In proof of this, I remember that the famous Minute 
Philofopher, old Demodicm y came one day from converfa- 
tion upon bufinefs with Timander, a young gentleman of 
the fame fe£t, full of aftonifhment. I am furprifed, faid 
he, to fee fo young, and withal fo complete a villain, and, 
fuch was the force of prejudice, fpoke of Timander y with 
abhorrence, not confidering that he was only the more 
egregious and profound philofopher of the two. 

VIII. Euph.— Though much may be hoped from the 
unprejudiced education of young gentlemen, yet, it feems, 
we are not to expecl: a fettled and entire happinefs, before 
vice reigns pure and unmixed : Till then, much is to be 
feared from the dangerous ftruggle between vice and vir- 
tue, which may perchance overturn and diflblve this go- 
vernment, as it hath done others. 

Lys. — No matter for that, if a better comes in its place. 
We have cleared the land of all prejudices towards go- 
vernment or conftitution, and made them fly like other 
phantafms before the light of reafon and good fenfe. Men, 
who think deeply, cannot fee any reafon, why power 
ihould not change hands,^ as well as property : or, why 
the fafhion of a government fhould not be changed as 
eafily as that of a garment. The perpetual circulating 
and revolving of wealth and power, no matter through 
what or whofe hands, is that which keeps up life and 
fpirit in a Hate. Thofe who are even fiighrly read in 
our philofophy, know that, of all prejudices, the filliefl 
is an attachment to forms. 

Cri. — To fay no more upon fo clear a point, the over- 
turning a government may be juftified upon the fame prin- 
ciples as die burning a town, would produce parallel effe£ts, 
and equally contribute to the public good. In both cafes, 
the natural fprings of action are forcibly exerted j And in 



[Dial. II.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 73 

this general induftry, what one lofes another gets, a quick 
circulation of wealth and power making the fum total to 
flourifh. 

Euph. — And do the Minute Philofophers publifti thefe 
things to the world ? 

Lys. — It mult be confefled, our writers proceed in poli- 
tics with greater caution, than they think neceffary, with 
regard to religion. 

Cri. — But thofe things plainly follow from their prin- 
ciples, and are to be admitted for the genuine doctrine of 
the feci:, exprefled, perhaps, with more freedom and 
perfpicuity, than might be thought prudent by thofe, 
who would manage the public, or not offend weak breth- 
ren. 

Euph. — And pray, is there not need of caution, a 
rebel, or incendiary, being characters, that many men 
have a prejudice againft ? 

Lys. — Weak people, of all ranks, have a world of ab- 
furd prejudices. 

Euph, — But the better fort, fuch as ftatefmen and le- 
giflators ; do you think, they have not the fame indifpo- 
fition towards admitting your principles ? 

Lys. — Perhaps they may ; but the reafon is plain. 

Cri. — This puts me in mind of that ingenious Philofo- 
pher, the gamefter, Glaucus y who ufed to fay, that ftatef- 
men and lawgivers may keep a ftir about right and wrong, 
juft and unjuft, but that, in truth, property, of every kind, 
had fo often patted from the right owners, by fraud and 
violence, that it was now to be confidered as lying on the 
common, and, with equal right, belonged to every one 
that could feize it. 

Euph. — What are we to think then of laws and regu- 
lations, relating to right and wrong, crimes and duties ? 

Lys. — They ferve to bind weak minds, and keep the 
vulgar in awe : But no fconer doth a true genius arife, 
but he breaks his way to greatnefs, through all the tram- 

K 



74 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. II.] 

mels of duty, confidence, religion, law ; to all which he 
fiieweth himfelf infinitely fuperior. 

IX. Euph.— You are, it feems, for bringing about a 
thorough reformation. 

Lys. — As to what is commonly called the reformation, 
I could never fee how, or wherein the world was the bet- 
ter for it. It is much the fame as popery, with this differ- 
ence, that it is the more prude-like and difagreeable thing 
of the two. A noted writer of ours makes it too great a 
compliment, when he computes the benefit of hooped- 
petticoats to be nearly equal to that of reformation. Tho- 
rough reformation is thorough liberty. Leave nature at 
full freedom to work her own way, and all will be well. 
This is what we aim at, and nothing fliort of this can come 
up to our principles. Crito, who is a zealous proteftant, 
hearing thefe words, could not refrain. The worft effecl: 
of the reformation, faid he, was the refcuing wicked men 
from a darknefs which kept them in awe. This, as it 
hath proved, was holding out light to robbers and mur- 
derers. Light, in itfelf, is good, and the fame light which 
fhews a man the folly of fuperftition, might fhew him the 
truth of religion, and the madnefs of atheifm. But to 
make ufe of light, only to fee the evils on one fide, and 
never to fee, but to run blindly upon the worfe extreme ; 
tKis is to make the bed of things produce evil, in the fame 
fenfe that you prove the worft of things to produce good, 
to wit, accidentally or indirectly : And by the fame meth- 
od of arguing, you may prove, that even difeafes are ufe- 
ful : but whatever benefit feems to accrue to the public, 
either from difeafe of mind or body, is not their genuine 
offspring, and may be obtained without them. Lxficles 
was a little difconcerted by the affirmative air of Crito ; 
but after a fliort paufe, replied brifkly, that to contemplate 
the public good was not every one's talent. True, faid 
EuphranoT) I queftion whether every one can frame a no- 



[Dial.IL] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 75 

tion of the public good, much lefs judge of the means to 
promote it. 

X. But you, Lyftcles, who are mailer of this fubje<ft, 
will be pleafed to inform me, whether the public good of 
a nation doth not imply the particular good of its individ- 
uals ? 

Lys. — It doth. 

Euph. — And doth not the good or happinefs of a man 
confifl, in having both foul and body found and in good 
condition, enjoying thofe things, which their refpe&ive 
natures require, and free from thofe things which are odi- 
ous or hurtful to them. 

Lys. — I do not deny all this to be true. 

Euph. — Now it would feem worth while to confider, 
whether the regular decent life of a virtuous man may 
not as much conduce to this end, as the mad fallies of in- 
temperance and debauchery. 

Lys. — I will acknowledge, that a nation may merely 
fubfift, or be kept alive, but it is impoffible it mould flour- 
ilh without the aid of vice. To produce a quick circula- 
tion of traffic and wealth in a ftate, there mull be exorbi- 
tant and irregular motions in the appetites and paffions. 

Euph. — The more people a nation contains, and the 
happier thofe people are, the more that nation may be 
faid to flourim. I think we are agreed in this point. 

Lys.— We are. 

Euph. — You allow then, that riches are not an ultimate 
end, but mould only be confidered as the means to procure 
happinefs. 

Lys. — I do. 

Euph. — It feems, that means cannot be of ufe with- 
out our knowing the end, and how to apply them to it. 

Lys. — It feems fo. 

Euph. — Will it not follow, that in order to make a na- 
tion flourim, it is not fufiicient to make it wealthy, with- 



1 6 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. II.] 

out knowing the true £nd and happinefs of mankind, and 
how to apply wealth towards attaining that end ? In pro- 
portion as thefe points are known and praclifed, I think 
the nation mould be likely to flourifh. But for a people; 
who neither know nor practife them, to gain riches, feems 
to me the fame advantage that it would be for a fick man 
to come at plenty of meat and drink, which he could not 
ufe but to his hurt, 

Lys. — This is mere fophiftry ♦, it is arguing without 
perfuading. Look into common life *, examine the pur- 
fuits of men ; have a due refpect for the confent of the 
world •, and you will foon be convinced, that riches alone 
are fufficient to make a nation flourifhing and happy. 
Give them riches, and they will make themfelves happy, 
without that political invention, that trick of ftatefmen 
and Philofophers, called virtue. 

XI. Euph. — Virtue then, in your account, is a trick 
of ftatefmen. 
Lys. — It is. 

Euph. — Why then do your fagacious feci betray and 
divulge that trick or fecret ftate, which wife men have 
judged neceflary for the good government of the world I 
Lyficles hefitating, Crito made anfwer, that he prefumed it 
was becaufe their feet, being wifer than all other wife men, 
difdained to fee the world governed by wrong maxims, 
and would fet all things on a right bottom. 

Euph. — Thus much is certain : If we look into all 
inftitutions of government, and the political writings of 
fuch as have heretofore paffed for wife men, we mall find 
a great regard for virtue. 

Lys.' — You {hall find a ftrong tincture of prejudice. 
But, as I faid before, confult the multitude, if you would 
find nature and truth. 

Euph. — But among country gentlemen, and farmers, 
and the better fort of tradefmen, is not virtue a reputable 
thing ? 



[Dial. II.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 77 

Lys. — You pick up authorities among men of law 
life and vile education. 

Euph. — Perhaps we ought to pay a decent refpecl to 
the authority of Minute Philofophers. 

Lys. — And I would fain know, whofe authority mould 
be more confidered, than that of thofe gentlemen, who are 
alone above prejudice, and think for themfelves. 

Euph. — -How doth it appear, that you are the only un- 
prejudiced part of mankind ? may not a Minute Philofo- 
pher, as well as another man, be prejudiced in favor of 
the leaders of his feci: ? May not an atheiftical education 
prejudice towards atheifm ? what Ihould hinder a man's 
being prejudiced againft religion, as well as for it ? or can 
you affign any reafon, why an attachment to pleafure, in- 
tereft, vice or vanity, may not be fuppofed to prejudice 
men againft virtue ? 

Lys. — This is pleafant. What ! Suppofe thofe very 
men influenced by prejudice, who are always difputing 
againft it, whofe conftant aim it is to detect and demolifh 
prejudices of all kinds ! except their own, replied Crtto y 
for you muft pardon me, if I cannot help thinking they 
have fome fmall prejudice, though not in favor of virtue. 

XII. I obferve, Lyftcles, that you allowed to Ettphra- 
tier, the greater number of happy people are in a ftate, 
the more that ftate may be faid to flourifti : It follows 
therefore, That fuch methods as multiply inhabitants are 
good, and fuch as dirtiinilh them are bad for the public. 
And one would think no body need be told, that the 
irrength of a ftate confifts more in the number and fort 
of people, than in any thing elfe. But in proportion as 
vice and luxury, thofe public blcflings encouraged by 
this Minute Philofcphy, prevail among us, fewer are 
difpofed to marry, too many being diverted by pleafure, 
difabled by difeafe, or frightened by expenfe. Nor doth 
vice only thin a nation, but alfo debafeth it by a pu- 



78 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. II.] 

ny degenerate race. I might add, that it is ruinous to our 
manufactures ; both as it makes labor dear, and thereby 
enables our more frugal neighbors to underfel us : and al- 
fo, as it diverts the lower fort of people from honed call- 
ings to wicked projects. If thefe, and fuch confidera- 
tions, were taken into the account, I believe it would be 
evident to any man in his fenfes, that the imaginary bene- 
fits of vice bear no proportion to the folid real woes that 
attend it. Lyjicles, upon this, {hook his head, and fmi- 
led at Critoy without vouchfafing any other anfwer. Af- 
ter which, addreffing himfelf to Euphranor, there cannot, 
faid he, be a ftronger inflance of prejudice, than that a 
man fhould at this time of day preferve a reverence for that 
idol, virtue, a thing fo effectually expofed and exploded 
by the mod knowing men of the age, who have fhewn, 
that man is a mere engine, played upon and driven about 
by fenfible objects : and that moral virtue is only a name, 
a notion, a chimera, an enthufiafm, or at beft a fafhion, 
uncertain and changeable, like all other falhions.* 

Euph.— -What do you think, Lyjicles, of health ? doth 
it depend on fancy and caprice, or is it fomething real in 
the bodily compofition of a man ? 

Lys. — Health is fomething real, which refults from 
the right conftitution and temperature of the organs, and 
the fluids circulating through them. 

Euph. — This, you fay, is health of body. 

Lys. — It is. 

Euph. — And may we not fuppofe an healthy confti- 
tution of foul, when the notions are right, the judgments 
true, the will regular, the paflions and appetites dire£l- 
*ed to their proper objects, and confined within due 
bounds ? This, in regard to the foul, feems what health 
is to the body. And the man, whofe mind is fo conftituted, 

* In morals, there is no greater certainty, than in fafhions. Fable of 
the Bees, Part the Firft, p. 379. 



[Dial. II.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 7p 

is he not properly called virtuous ? And to produce this heal- 
thy difpofition in the minds of his countrymen, fhould 
not every good man employ his endeavors ? If thefe things 
have any appearance of truth, as to me they feem to have, 
it will not then be fo clear a point, that virtue is a 
mere whim, or fafhion, as you are pleafed to reprefent 
it : I muft own, fomething unexpectedly, after what had 
been difcourfed in laft evening's conference, which, if you 
would call to mind, it might perhaps fave both of us fome 
trouble. 

Lys. — Would you know the truth, Euphranor .? I 
muft own, I have quite forgot all your difcourfe about 
virtue, duty, and all fuch points, which, being of an 
airy, notional nature, are apt to vanifh, and leave no 
trace on a mind accuftomed only to receive impreffion 
from realities. 

XIII. Having heard thefe words, Euphranor looked at 
Crito and me, and faid fmiling, I have miflaken my part : 
it was mine to learn, and his to inftrucl:. Then addref- 
fing himfelf to Lyjtcles, Deal faithfully, faid he, and let 
me know whether the public benefit of vice be, in truth, 
that which makes you plead for it ? 

Lys. — I love to fpeak frankly what I think. Know then, 
that private intereft is the nrft and principal confideration 
with philofophers of our feci;. Now, of all interefts, plea- 
fure is that which hath the ftrongeft charms, and no plea- 
fures like thofe which are heightened and enlivened by 
licence. Herein confifts the peculiar excellency of our 
principles, that they (hew people how to ferve their coun- 
try by diverting themfelves, caufing the two ftreams of 
public fpirit and felf-love to unite and run in the fame 
channel. I have told you already, that I admit a nation 
might fubfifh by the rules of virtue. But give me leave 
to fay, it will barely fubfift in a dull, joylefs, infipid 
ftate j whereas, the fprightly exceffes of vice infpire men 



80 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. II.] 

with joy. ' And where particulars rejoice, the public, 
which is made up of particulars, muft do fo too : that is, 
the public muft be happy. This I take to be an irrefra- 
gable argument. But, to give you its full force, and 
make it as plain as poffible, I will trace things from their 
original. Happinefs is the end tp which created beings 
naturally tend, but we find that all animals, whether men 
or brutes, do naturally and principally purfue real plea- 
fure of fenfe ; whicli is therefore to be thought their fu- 
preme good, their true end and happinefs. It is for this 
men live -, and, whoever underftands life, muft allow 
that man to enjoy the top and flower of it, who hath a 
quick fenfe of pleafure, and withal, fpirit, flrill, and for- 
tune, fufncient to gratify every appetite, and every tafte. 
Niggards and fools will envy or traduce fuch a one, be- 
caufe they cannot equal him. Hence, all that fober tri- 
fling, in diiparagement of what every one would be maf- 
ter of if he could, a full freedom and unlimited fcope of 
pleafure. 

Euph. — Let me fee whether I underftand you. Plea- 
fure of fenfe, you fay, is the chief pleafure. 

Lys. — I do. 

Euph. — And this would be crampt and diminished by 
virtue. 

Lys.- — It would. 

Euph.- — Tell me, Lyftcles, is pleafure then at the 
height when the appetites are fatisfied ? 

Lys. — There is then only an indolence, the lively fenfe 
of pleafure being paft. 

Euph. — It muft feem, therefore, that the appetites 
muft be always craving to preferve pleafure alive. 

Lys. — That is our fenfe of the matter. 

Euph. — The Greek philofopher, therefore, was in the 
right, who confidered the body of a man of pleafure as a 
leaky veffel, always filling, and never full. 

Lys. — Yea may divert yourfelf with allegories, if you 



[Dial. II.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 81 

pleafe. But all the while ours is literally the true tafte of 
nature. Look throughout the univerfe, and you fhall find 
birds and fillies, beafts and infers, all kinds of animals, 
with which the creation fwarms, conftantly engaged, by 
inftin&, in the purfuk of fenfible pleafure. And fhallman 
alone be the grave fool, who thwarts, and crofTes, and 
fubdues his appetites, while his fellow creatures do all 
mod joyfully and freely indulge them ? 

Euph. — How ! Lyficles ! I thought, that being govern- 
ed by the fenfes, appetites, and paffions, was the mod 
grievous flavery : and that the proper bufinefs of free- 
thinkers, or philofophers, had been to fet men free from 
the power of ambition, avarice, and fenfuality. 

Lys. — You miftake the point. We make men relifh 
the world, attentive to their interefts, lively and luxurious 
in their pleafures, without fear or reftraint either from 
God or man. We defpife thofe preaching writers, who 
ufed to difturb or cramp the pleafures and amufements of 
human life. We hold, that a wife man, who meddles 
with bufinefs, doth it altogether for his intereft, and re- 
fers his intereft to his pleafure. With us it is a maxim, 
that a man mould feize the moments as they fly. With- 
out love, • and wine, and play, and late hours, we hold 
life not to be worth living. I grant, indeed, that there 
is fomething grofs and ill-bred in the vices of mean men, 
which the genteel philofopher abhors. 

Cri.— But to cheat, whore, betray, get drunk ; do all 
thefe things decently, this is true wifdom and elegance of 
tafte. 

XIV. Eurn. — To me, who have been ufed to another 
way of thinking, this new philofophy feems difficult to 
digefl. I mult therefore beg leave to examine its princi- 
ples, with the fame freedom that you do t&ofe 
other feels. 

Lys. — Agreed. 



82 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. II.] 

Euph.' — You fay, if I miftake not, that a wife man 
purfues only his private intereft, and that this confifts in 
fenfual pleafure ; for proof whereof, you appeal to nature. 
Is not this what you advance ? 

Lys. — It is. 

Euph. — You conclude, therefore, that as other ani- 
mals are guided by natural inftinct, man too ought to 
follow the dictates of fenfe and appetite. 

Lys. — I do. 

Euph. — But in this, do you not argue as if man had 
only fenfe and appetite for his guides, on which fuppo- 
fition there might be truth in what you fay ? But what 
if he hath intellect, reafon, a higher inftincl:, and a no- 
bler life ? If this be the cafe, and you, being man, live 
like a brute, is it not the way to be defrauded of your 
true happinefs ? to be mortified and difappointed ? Con- 
fider mod forts of brutes : you fhall, perhaps, find them 
have a greater (hare of fenfual happinefs than man. 

Lys. — To our forrow, we do. This hath made feveral 
gentlemen of our feci: envy brutes, and lament the lot 
of human kind. 

Cri. — It was a confideration of this fort, which infpir- 
ed Erotylus with the laudable ambition of wifhing himfelf 
a fnaii, upon hearing of certain particularities difcovered 
in that animal by a modern virtuofo. 

Euph. — Tell me, Lyficlcs, if you had an inexhaufti- 
ble fund of gold and filver, mould you envy another for 
having a little more copper than you ? 

Lys. — I fhould not. 

Euph. — Are not reafon, imagination, and fenfe, fa- 
culties differing in kind, and in rank higher one than ano- 
ther ? 

Lys. — I do not deny it. 

Euph. — Their acls, therefore, differ in kind. 

Lys. — They do. 

Euph. — Confequently, the pleafures perfective of thofc 
a£U are alfo different. 



[Dial. II.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 83 

Lys.- — They are. 

Euph You admit, therefore, three forts of pleafure : 

pleafure of reafon, pleafure of imagination, and pleafure 
of fenfe. 

Lys. — I do. 

Euph. — And, as it is reafonable to think, the opera- 
tion of the higheft and nobleft faculty to be attended with 
the higheit pleafure, may we not fuppofe the two former 
to be as gold or filver, and the latter only as copper ? 
Whence it mould feem to follow, that man need not en- 
vy or imitate a brute. 

Lys. — And neverthelefs there are very ingenious men 
who do. And furely every one may be allowed to know 
what he wants, and wherein his true happinefs confifts. 

Euph. — Is it not plain, that different animals have dif- 
ferent pleafures ? Take a hog from his ditch or dunghill, 
lay him on a rich bed, treat him with fweetmeats, and 
mufic, and perfumes : All thefe things will be no enter- 
tainment to him. Do not a bird, a beaft, a fifh, amufe 
themfelves in various manners, infomuch that what is 
pleafing to one, may be death to another ? Is it ever feen, 
that one of thefe animals quits its own element, or way 
of living, to adopt that of another ? And (hall man quit 
his own nature to imitate a brute ? 

Lys. — But fenfe is not only natural to brutes ; is it 
not alfo natural to man ? 

Euph. — It is, but with this difference ; it maketh 
the whole of a brute's, but is the loweft part, or faculty, 
of a human foul. The nature of any thing is peculiarly 
that which doth diftinguifh it from other things, not 
what it hath in common with them. Do you allow this 
to be true ? 

Lys. — I do. 

Euph.— And is not reafon that which makes the prin- 
cipal difference between man and other animals ? 

Lys. — It is. 



&l MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. II.] 

Euph. — Reafon, therefore, being the principal part 
of our nature, whatever is molt reasonable, fhould feem 
mod natural to man. Mud we not, therefore, think ra- 
tional pleafures more agreeable to human kind, than thofe 
of fenfe ? Man and beaft, having different natures, feem 
to have different faculties, different enjoyments, and dif- 
ferent forts of happinefs. You can eafily conceive, that 
the fort of life which makes the happinefs of a mole, or a 
bat, would be a very wretched one for an eagle, And 
may you not as well conceive, that the happinefs of a 
brute can never conftitute the true happinefs of a man ? 
A bead, without reflection or remorfe, without forefight 
or appetite of immortality, without notion of vice or 
virtue, or order, or reafon, or knowledge ! What mo- 
tives, what grounds can there be for bringing down man, 
in whom are all thefe things, to a level with fuch a crea- 
ture ? What merit, what ambition, in the Minute Philo- 
sopher, to make fuch an animal a guide or rule for hu- 
man life ? 

XV. Lys. — It is ftrange, Euphranor^ that one who 
admits freedom of thought, as you do, mould yet be 
fuch a flave to prejudice. You ftill talk of order and 
virtue, as of real things,, as "if our philofophers had never 
demonftrated, that they have no foundation in nature, 
and are only the effects of education. I know, faid Crito, 
how the Minute Philofophers are accuftomed to demon- 
ftrate this point. They confider the animal nature of 
man, or man fo far forth as he is animal : and it muft 
be owned that, confidered in that light, he hath no fehfe 
of duty, no notion of virtue. He, therefore, who fhould 
look for virtue among mere animals, or human kind, as 
fuch, would look in the wrong place. But that philoso- 
pher, who is attentive only to the animal part of his be- 
ing, and raifeth his theories from the very dregs of our 
fpecies, may, probably, upon fecond thoughts, find him- 
felf miftaken. 



[Dial. II.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 85 

Look you, Crito f faid Lyfichs, my argument is with 
Euphranor, to whom addrefling his difeourfe, I obferve, 
faid he, that you ftand much upon the dignity of human 
nature. This thing of dignity is an old worn-out notion, 
which depends on other notions, old and ft ale and worn- 
out, fuch as an immaterial fpirit, and a ray derived 
from the Divinity. But, in thefe days, men of fenie 
make a jeft of all this grandeur and dignity : and many 
there are, would gladly exchange their mare of it, for 
the repofe, and freedom, and fenfuality of a brute. But 
comparifons are odious : waving, therefore, all inquiry 
concerning the refpective excellencies of man and beaft, 
and whether it is beneath a man to follow or imitate 
brute animals, in judging of the chief good and conduct 
of life and manners, I fhall be content to appeal, to the 
authority of men themfelves, for the truth of my notions. 
Do but look abroad into the world, and afk the common 
run of men, whether pleafure of fenfe be not the only 
true, folid, fubftantial good of their kind ? 

Euph. — But might not the fame vulgar fort of men 
prefer a piece of fign-poft painting to one of Raphael's, or 
a Grub-Jlreet ballad to an ode of Horace ? Is there not a 
real difference between good and bad writing ? 

Lys. — There is. 

Euph. — And yet you will allow, there mult be a ma- 
turity and improvement of underftanding, to difcern this 
difference, which doth not make it, therefore, lefs real. 

Lys. — I will. 

Euph. — In the fame manner, what fhould hinder, but 
there may be, in nature, a true difference between vice 
and virtue, although it requires fome degree of reflection 
and judgment to obferve it ? In order to know whether a 
thing be agreeable to the rational nature of man, it feems, 
one mould rather obferve and confult thofe who have 
mod employed, or improved their reafon. 

Lys. — Well, I fhall not infift on confuking the com- 



8(5 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. II] 

mon herd of mankind. From the ignorant and grofs vul- 
gar, I might myfelf appeal, in many cafes, to men of rank 
and faihion. 

Euph. — They are a fort of men, I have not the honor to 
know much of by my own obfervation. But I remember 
a remark of AriJlotle> who was himfelf a courtier, and 
knew them well. " Virtue, faith he, * and good fenfe, 
are not the property of high birth, or a great eftate. Nor, 
if they, who poflefs thefe advantages, wanting a tafte for 
rational pleafures, betake themfelves to thofe of fenfe -, 
ought we, therefore, to efteem them eligible, any more 
than we mould the toys and paftimes of children, becaufe 
they feem fo to them ?" And indeed, one may be allow- 
ed to queftion, whether the trueft eftimate of things was 
to be expected from a mind intoxicated with luxury, and 
dazzled with the fplendor of high living. 

Cumjlupet infants acies fulgoribus, & cum 
Acclinis falfis animus melior a recufat. HoR. 

Crito, upon this, obferved, that he knew an Englijh no- 
bleman, who, in the prime of life, profefleth a liberal art, 
and is the firft man of his profeflion in the world : and 
that he was very fure, he had more pleafure from the 
exercife of that elegant art, than from any fenfual enjoy- 
ment within the power of one of the largeft fortunes, and 
moft bountiful fpirits in Great-Britain, 

XVI. Lys. — But why need we have recourfe to the 
judgment of other men in fo plain a cafe ? I appeal to 
your own breaft : confult that, and then fay, if fenfual 
pleafure be not the chief good of man. 

Euph. — I, for my part, have often thought thofe plea- 
fures, which are higheft in the efteem of fenfualifts, fo 
far from being the chiefeft good, that it feemed doubtful, 
upon the whole, whether they were any good at all, any 

* Ethic, ad Nicom. 1. 10, c, 6. 



[Dial. II.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 87 

more than the mere removal of pain. Are not our wants 
and appetites uneafy ? 

Lys. — They are. 

Euph. — Doth not fenfual pleafure conlift in fatisfying 
them ? 

Lys. — It doth. 

Euph. — But the cravings are tedious, the fatisfa&ion 
momentary. Is it not fo ? 

Lys. — It is, but what then ? 

Euph. — Why then, it mould feem, that fenfual pleafure 
is but a fhort deliverance from long pain. A long avenue 
of uneafinefs leads to a point of pleafure, which ends in 
difguft or remorfe. 

Cri. — And he who purfues this ignis fatuus imagines 
himfelf a Philofopher and free-thinker. 

Lys. — Pedants are governed by words and notions, 
while the wifer men of pleafure follow fa&, nature, and 
fenfe. 

Cri. — But what if notional pleafures mould, in fact, 
prove the moll real and lading ? Pure pleafures of reafon 
and imagination neither hurt the health, nor wafte the 
fortune, nor gall the confcience. By them, the mind 
is long entertained without loathing or fatiety. On the 
other hand, a notion, (which, with you, it feems, paffeth 
for nothing) often embitters the moll lively fenfual plea- 
fures, which, at bottom, will be found alfo to depend upon 
notion, more than perhaps you imagine : it being a vul- 
gar remark, that thofe things are more enjoyed by hope 
and foretafte of the foul, than by poffeflion. Thus much 
is yielded, that actual enjoyment is very ihort, and the 
alternative of appetite and difguft long, as well as uneafy. 
So that, upon the whole, it mould feem thofe gentlemen, 
who are called men of pleafure, from their eager purfuit 
of it, do in reality, with great expenfe of fortune, eafe, 
and health, purchafe pain. 

Lys. — You may fpin out plaufible arguments, but will, 



88 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. II.] 

after all, find it a difficult matter to convince me, that fo 
many ingenious men mould not be able to diftinguifh be- 
tween things fo directly oppofite as pain and pleafure. 
How is it poffible to account for this ? 

Cri. — I believe a reafon may be afhgned for it, but to 
men of pleafure no truth is fo palitable as a fable. Jove 
once upon a time having ordered, that pleafure and pain 
mould be mixed, in equal proportions, in every dofe of hu- 
man life, upon a complaint that fome men endeavored to 
feparate whathehad joined, and taking more than their (hare 
of the fweet, would leave all the four for others, comman- 
ded Mercury to put a flop to this evil, by fixing on each 
delinquent a pair of invifible fpe&acles, which fhould 
change the appearance of things, making pain look like 
pleafure, and pleafure like pain, labour like recreation, and 
recreation like labour. From that time, the men of plea- 
fure are eternally miftaking and repenting. 

Lys. — If your doctrine takes place, I would fain know 
what can be the advantage of a great fortune, which all 
mankind fo eagerly purfue ? 

Cri. — "It is a common faying with Eucrates, that a great 
fortune is an edged tool, which a hundred may come at, for 
o?ie who knows how to ufe it, fo much eafier is the art of get- 
ting, than that of fpending. What its advantage is, I will 
not fay, but I will venture to declare what it is not, I am 
fure that where abundance excludes want, and enjoyment 
prevents appetite, there is not the quickeft fenfe of thofe 
pleafures we have been fpeaking of : in which the footman 
hath often a greater (hare than his lord, who cannot enlarge 
his ftomach in proportion to his eftate. 

XVII. Reafonabie and well-educated men, of all ranks, 
have, I believe, pretty much the fame amufements, not- 
withftanding the difference of their fortunes : but thofe 
who are particularly diftinguifhed, as men of pleafure, 
feem to poffefs it in a very fmall degree. 



[Dial. II.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 89 

Euph. — I have heard, that among perfons of that char- 
acter, a game of cards is efteemed a chief diverfion. 

Lys. — Without cards, there could be no living for peo- 
ple of fafhion. It is the moft delightful way of palling an 
evening, when gentlemen and ladies are got together, who 
would otherwife he at a lofs what to fay or do with them- 
felves. But a pack of cards is fo engaging, that it doth 
not only employ them, when they are met, but ferves to 
draw them together. Quadrille gives them pleafure in 
profpeclr, during the dull hours of the day, they reflect on 
it with delight, and it furnifhes difcourfe when it is over. 

Cri. — One would be apt to fufpett, thofe people of con- 
dition pafs their time but heavily, and are but little the 
better for their fortunes, whofe chief amufement is a 
thing in the power of every footman, who is as well qual- 
ified to receive pleafure from cards as a peer. I can eafi- 
ly conceive that, when people of a certain turn are got 
together, they fhould prefer doing any thing to the ennui 
of their own converfation : but it is not eafy to conceive, 
that there is any great pleafure in this. What a card- 
table can afford, requires neither parts nor fortune to 
judge of. 

Lys. — Play is a ferious amufement, that comes to the 
relief of a man of pleafure, after the more lively and af- 
fecting enjoyments of fenfe. It kills time beyond any 
thing ; and is a moft admirable anodyne to divert or pre- 
vent thought, which might, otherwife, prey upon the 
mind. 

Cri. — I readily comprehend, that no man upon earth 
ought to prize anodynes for the fpleen, more than a man 
of fafhion and pleafure. An ancient fagc, fpeaking of 
one of that character, faith, he is made wretched by dis- 
appointments and appetites, lupcitai apotunchanon y kai epi- 
thumon. And if this was true of the Greehs y who lived 
in the fun, and had no fuch fpirit, I am apt to think it is 
dill more fo of our modern Englifh, Something there is 

M 



9 o MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. II.] 

in our climate and complexion, that makes idlenefs no 
where fo much its own punifhment as in England, where 
an uneducated fine gentleman pays for his momentary 
pleafures, with long and cruel intervals of fpleen ; for re- 
lief of which, he is driven into fenfual exceflfes, that pro- 
duce a proportionable depreflion of fpirits, which, as it 
createth a greater want of pleafures, fo it leflens the abili- 
ty to enjoy them. There is a caft of thought, in the 
complexion of an E??gliJJjman i which renders him the 
moft unfuccefsful rake in the world. He is (as Ariftotle 
exprefieth it) at variance with himfelf. He is neither 
brute enough to enjoy his appetites, nor man enough to 
govern them. He knows and feels, that what he purfues 
is not his true good ; his reflexion ferving only to fhew 
him that mifery, which his habitual floth and indolence 
will not fuffer him to remedy. At length, being grown 
odious to himfelf, and abhorring his own company, he 
runs into every idle afiembly, not from the hopes of plea- 
fure, but merely to refpite the pain of his own mind. — 
Liflilefs and uneafy at the prefent, he hath no delight in 
reflecting on what is pad, or in the profpecl; of any 
thing to come. This man of pleafure, when after a 
wretched fcene of vanity and woe, his animal nature is 
worn to the (lumps, wifhes and dreads death, by turns, 
and is lick of living, without having ever tried or known 
the true life of man. 

Euph. — It is well this fort of life, which is of fo little 
benefit to the owner, conduceth fo much to that of the 
public. But pray tell me, do thefe gentlemen fet up for 
Minute Philofophers ? 

Cri. — That feci:, you mull know, contains two forts 
of philofophers, the wet and the dry. Thofe I have been 
describing, are of the former kind. They differ rather in 
practice than in theory. As an older, graver, or duller 
man, from one that is younger, and more capable or fond 
cf pleafure. The dry philofopher pafleth his time but 



[Dial. II] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 9 i 

drily. He has the honor of pimping for the vices of more 
fprightly men, who, in return, offer feme fmall incenfe 
to his vanity. Upon this encouragement, and to make 
his own mind eafy, when it is paft being pleafed, he 
employs himfelf in jullifying thofe excefles he cannot 
partake in. But to return to your queftion, thofe mifer- 
^ble folk are mighty men for the Minute Philofophy. 

Euph. — What hinders them, then, from-putting an end 
to their lives ? 

Cri. — Their not being perfuaded of the truth of what 
they profefs. Some, indeed, in a fit of defpair, do now 
and then lay violent hands on themfelves. And, as the 
Minute Philofophy prevails, we daily fee more examples 
of fuicide. But they bear no proportion to thofe, who 
would put an end to their lives, if they durft. My friend, 
Clinias, who had been one of them, and a philofopher of 
rank, let me into the fecret hiftory of their doubts and 
fears, and irrefolute refolutions, of making away with 
themfelves ; which lad, he aflures me, is a frequent to- 
pic with men of pleafure, when they have drunk them- 
felves into a little fpirit. It was by virtue of this mechan- 
ical valour, the renowned philofopher, Hermocrates, fhot 
himfelf through the head. The fame thing hath been 
pra&ifed by feveral others, to the great relief of their 
friends. Splenetic, worried, and frightened out of their 
wits, they run upon their doom with the fame courage 
as a bird runs into the mouth of a rattle-fnake ; not bc- 
caufe they are bold to die, but becaufe they are afraid to 
live. Clinias endeavored to fortify his irreligion, by the 
difcourfe and opinion of other Minute Philofophers, who 
were mutually ftrengthened in their own unbelief by his. 
After this manner, authority working in a circle, they 
endeavored to atheize one another. But though he pre- 
tended, even to a demonftration, againft the being of a 
God, yet he could not inwardly conquer his own belief. 
He fell fick, and acknowledged this truth ; is now a fo- 



92 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. IL] 

ber man, and a chriftian j owns he was never fo happy 
as fince he became fuch, nor fo wretched as while he was 
a Minute Philofopher. And he, who has tried both con- 
ditions, may be allowed a proper judge of both. 

Lys. — Truly, a fine account of the brighteft and bra- 
ve ft men of the age ! 

Cri. — Bright and brave are fine attributes. But our 
curate is of opinion, that all your free-thinking rakes are 
either fools or cowards. Thus he argues ; if fuch a man 
doth not fee his true intereft, he wants fenfe ; if he doth, 
but dare not purfue it, he wants courage. In this man- 
ner, from the defetl: of fenfe and courage, he deduceth, 
that whole fpecies of men, who are fo apt to value them- 
felves upon both thofe qualities. 

Lys. — As for their courage, they are at all times ready 
to give proof of it : and, for their underftanding, thanks 
to nature, it is of a fize not to be meafured by country 
parfons. 

XVIII. Euph. — But Socrates, who was no country par- 
fon, fufpe&ed your men of pleafure were fuch, through ig- 
norance. 

Lys. — Ignorance ! of what ? 

Euph.— Of the art of computing. It was his opinion, 
that rakes cannot reckon.* And that, for want of this 
fkill, they make wrong judgments about pleafure, on the 
right choice of which their happinefs depends. 

Lys,— I do not understand you. 

Euph. — Do you grant that fenfe perceiveth only fenfi- 
ble things ? 

Lys. — I do. 

Euph. — Senfe perceiveth only things prefent. 

Lys.—- This too I grant. 

Euph. — Future pleafures, therefore, and pleafures of 
the underftanding, are not to be judged of by fenfe. 

Lys. — They are not. 

* Plato in Pretag, 



CDial.IL] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. $3 

Euph. — Thofe, therefore," who judge of pleafures by 
fenfe, may find themfelves miftaken at the foot of the ac- 
count. 

f Cum lapidofa ohiragra 
Contudit articulos veteris ramalia figi, 
Turn crajfos transijfe dies lucemque pah/jlrem 9 
Et fibi jam ftri vitam ingemuere reliclam. 

To make a right computation, mould you not confider 
all the faculties, and all the kinds of pleafure, taking into 
your account the future, as well as the prefent, and rating 
them all according to their true value ? 

Cri. — The Epicureans themfelves allowed, that plea- 
fure, which procures a greater pain, or hinders a greater 
pleafure, mould be regarded as a pain •, and, that pain, 
which procures a greater pleafure, or prevents a greater 
pain, is to be accounted a pleafure. In order, therefore, to 
make a true eftimate of pleafure, the great fpring of action, 
and that from whence the conduct of life takes its bias, 
we ought to compute intellectual pleafures and future plea- 
fures, as well as prefent and fenfible : We ought to make 
allowance in the valuation of each particular pleafure, for 
all the pains and evils, for all the difguft, remorfe, and 
ftiame that attend it : We ought to regard both kind and 
quantity, the fincerity, the intenfenefs,' and the duration of 
pleafures. Let a free-thinker but bethink himfelf, how 
little of human pleafure confifts in actual fenfation, and 
how much in profpedt. ! let him then compare the prof- 
peel: of a virtuous believer with that of an unbelieving- 
rake. 

Euph.- — And all thefe points duly confidered, will not 
Socrates feem to have had reafcn of his fide, when he 
thought ignorance made rakes, and particularly their being 
ignorant of what he calls the (Science of more ; • reat- 

f Peifius, Sat. 5. 



94 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. II.] 

er and fmaller, equality and comparifon, that is to fay, of 
the art of computing ? 

Lys. — All this difcourfe feems notional. For real abili- 
ties of every kind, it is well known we have the brighteft 
men of the age among us. But all thofe, who know the 
world, do calculate, that what you call a good chriftian, 
who hath neither a large confcience nor unprejudiced mind, 
mull be unfit for the affairs of it. Thus you fee, while 
you compute yourfelves out of pleafure, others compute 
you out of bufinefs. What then are you good for, with 
all your computation ? 

Euph. — I have all imaginable refpe£t for the abilities 
of free-thinkers. My only fear was, their parts might be 
too lively for fuch flow talents as forecaft and computation, 
the gifts of ordinary men. 

XIX. Cri. — I cannot make the fame compliment that 
Euphranor does. For though I {hall not pretend to char- 
acterize the whole feci:, yet thus much I may truly affirm v 
That thofe, who have fallen in my way, have been moftly 
raw men of pleafure, old fharpers in bufinefs, or a third 
fort of lazy fciolifts, who are neither men of bufinefs, nor 
men of fpeculation, but fet up for judges, or critics, in all 
kinds, without having made a progrefs in any. Thefe, 
among men of the world, pafs for profound theorifts, and, 
among fpeculative men, would feem to know the world : 
a conceited race, equally ufelefs to the affairs and ftudies 
of mankind ! Such as thefe, for the mod part, feem to be 
fe£taries of the Minute Philofophy. I will not deny that, 
now and then, you may meet a man of eafy manners, that, 
without thofe faults and affectations, is carried into the 
party by the mere ftream of education, fafhion, or compa- 
ny ; all which do, in this age, prejudice men againft reli- 
gion, even thofe who mechanically rail at prejudice. I 
rcuft not forget, that the Minute Philofophers have alfo a 
flrong party among the beaux and fine ladies •, and, as af- 
fectations out of character are often the ftrongeft, there is 






[Dial. II.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 95 

nothing (o dogmatical and inconvincible as one of tliefe 
fine things, when it fets up for free-thinking. But, be 
thefe profeffbrs of the feci: never fo dogmatical, their au- 
thority mull needs be fmall with men of fenfe. Who 
would choofe, for his guide, in the fearch of truth, one 
whole thoughts and time are taken up with drefs, vifits, 
and diverfions ? Or whofe education hath been behind a 
counter, or in an office ? Or whole fpeculations have been 
employed on the forms of bufinefs, who is only well read 
in the ways and commerce of mankind, in ftock-jobbing, 
purloining, fupplanting, bribing ! Or would any man in 
his fenfes give a fig for meditations and difcoveries, made 
over a bottle ? And yet it is certain, that inftead of thought, 
books, and ftudy, moft free-thinkers are the profelytes of 
a drinking club. Their principles are often fettled, and 
decifions on the deepeft points made, when they are not 
fit to make a bargain. 

Lys. — You forget our writers, Crito. They make a 
world of profelytes. 

Cri. — So would worfe writers in fuch a caufe. Alas ! 
how few read ! and of thefe, how few are able to judge ! 
how many wiffi your notions true ! How many had rather 
be diverted than inftru&ed ! how many are convinced by 
a title ! I may allow your reafons to be effectual, without 
allowing them to be good. Arguments, in themfelves of 
fmall weight, have great efFe£t, when they are recommend- 
ed by a miftaken intereft, when they are pleaded for by 
paflion, when they are countenanced by the humor of the 
age : and, above all, with fome fort of men, when they are 
againft law, government, and eftablifhed opinions : things 
which, as a wife or good man would not depart fnem with- 
out clear evidence, a weak or a bad man, will afreet to dis- 
parage on the flighteft grounds. 

Lys. — And yet the arguments of our Philofophers 
alarm. 

Cri. — The force of their reafoning is not what alarms : 



96 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. EL] 

their contempt of laws and government is alarming : their 
application to the young and ignorant is dangerous. 

Euph. — But without difputing or difparaging their tal- 
ent at ratiocination, it feems very poflible their fuccefs 
might not be owing to that alone. May it not, in fome 
meafure, be afcribed to the defects of others, as well as to 
their own perfections ? My friend, Eucrate, ufed to fay, 
that the church would thrive and flourifli beyond all oppo- 
fition, if fome certain perfons minded piety more than 
politics, pra£Ucs than polemics, fundamentals than con- 
ie&aries, fubftance than circumflance, things than notions, 
and notions than words. 

Lys. — Whatever may be the caufe, the effe&s are too 
plain to be denied. And when a confidering man obferves 
that our notions do, in this moft learned and knowing age, 
fpread and multiply, in oppolition to eftablifhed laws, and 
every day gain ground againft a body fo numerous, fo 
learned, fo well fupported, protected, encouraged, for the 
fervice and defence of religion : I fay, when a man ob- 
ferves and considers all this, he will be apt to afcribe it to 
the force of truth, and the merits of our caufe ; which, 
had it been fupported with the revenues and eftablifhments 
of the church and univerlities, you may guefs what a figure 
it would make, by the figure that i'c makes without them. 

Euph. — It is much to be pitied, that the learned profef- 
fors of your feci: do not' meet with the encouragement they 
deferve. 

Lys.— -All in due time. People begin to open their 
eyes. It is not impoffible t'hofe revenues that, in ignorant 
times, were applied to a wrong ufe, may, in a more enlight- 
ened age, be applied to a better. 

Cri. — But why profefTors and encouragement for what 
needs no teaching ? An acquaintance of mine has a moft 
ingenious footman, that can neither write nor read, who 
learned your whole fyftem in half an hour : He knows 
when and how to nod, fhake his head, frrule, and give a 






[Dial. II.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 97 

hint, as well as the ableft fceptic, and is, in fa£t, a very 
Minute Philofopher. 

Lys.— Pardon me, it takes time to unlearn religious pre- 
judices, and requires a ftrong head. 

Cri. — I do not know how it might have been, once up- 
on a time. But in the prefent laudable education, I know 
feveral, who have been imbued with no religious notions at 
all ; and others, who have had them fo very flight, that 
they rubbed off without the leaft pains. 

XX. Panope> young and beautiful, under the care of 
her aunt, an admirer of the Minute Philofophy, was kept 
from learning the principles of religion, that fhe might not 
be accuftomed to believe without a reafon, nor aflent to 
what me did not comprehend. Panope was not, indeed, 
prejudiced with religious notions, but got a notion of intri- 
guing, and a notion of play, which ruined her reputation 
by fourteen, and her fortune by four and twenty. I have 
often reflected on the different fate of two brothers in my 
neighborhood. Ckon, the elder, being defigned an accom- 
plifhed gentleman, was fent to town, had the firfl part of 
his education in a great fchool : What religion he learned 
there, was foon unlearned in a certain celebrated fociety, 
which, till we have a better, may pafs for a nurfery of Mi- 
nute Philosophers. Cleon dreffed well, could cheat at 
cards, had a nice palate, underftood the myftery of the die, 
was a mighty man in the Minute Philofophy. And hav- 
ing mined a few years, in thefe accomplifhments, he died 
before thirty, childlefs and rotten, expreffmg the utmofl 
indignation that he could not outlive that old dog, his 
father \ who, having a great notion of polite manners, and 
knowledge of the v/orld, had purchafed them to his favor- 
ite fon, with much exoenfe, but had been more frugal in 
the education of Charephony the younger fon ; who was 
brought up at a country-fchool, and entered a commoner 
in the univerfity, where he qualified himfelf for a parfon- 
N 



9 8 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. IL] 

age in his father's gift, which he is now poflefled of, to- 
gether with the eftate of the family, and a numerous off» 
fpring.. 

Lys. — A pack of unpolifhed cubs, I warrant. 

Cri. — Lefs polifhed, perhaps, but more found, more 
honeft, and likely to be more ufeful, than many who pafs 
for fine gentlemen. Crates^ a worthy juftice of the peace, 
in this county, having had a fon mifcarry at London^ by 
the converfation of a Minute Philofopher, ufed to fay, 
with a great air of complaint, if a man fpoils my corn, 
or hurts my cattle, I have a remedy againft him ; but if 
he fpoils my children, I have none. 

Lys. — I warrant you, he was for penal methods : He 
would have had a law to perfecute tender confciences. 

Cri. — The tender confcience of a Minute Philofopher ! 
He, who tutored the fon of Crates , foon after did juftice on 
himfelf. For he taught Lycidas, a modeft young man, the 
principles of his feci:. Lycidas, in return, debauched his 
daughter, an only child : Upon which, Chanmdes, (that 
was the Minute Philofopher's name) hanged himfelf. 
Old Bubalion > in the city, is carking, and ftarving, and 
cheating, that his fon may drink and game, keep miftrefT- 
es, hounds, and horfes, and die in a jail. Bubalion ^ never- 
thelefs, thinks himfelf wife, and paffeth for one that minds 
the main chance. He is a Minute Philofopher, which 
learning he acquired behind the counter, from the works 
of Prodicus and Tryphon. This fame Bubalion was one 
night at fupper, talking againft the immortality of the foul, 
with two or three grave citizens, one of whom, the next 
day, declared himfelf bankrupt, with five thoufand pound 
of Bubalion 's in his hands j and the night following, he re- 
ceived a note from a fervant, who had, during his lecture, 
waited at table, demanding the fum of fifty guineas to be 
laid under a (lone, and concluding with molt terrible 
threats and imprecations. 

Lys. — Not to repeat what hath been already demon- 



[Dial. II.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 99 

ftrated, that the public is, at bottom, no fufferer by fuch 
accidents, which, in truth, are inconvenient only to private 
perfons, who, in their turn, too, may reap the benefit of 
them : I fay, not to repeat all that hath been demonstra- 
ted on that head, I (hall only afk you, whether there would 
not be rakes and rogues, although we did not make them ? 
Believe me, the world always was, and always will be the 
fame, as long as men are men. 

Cri. — I deny that the world is always the fame. Hu- 
man nature, to ukAlciphrcn's comparifon, is like land, better 
or worfe, as it is improved, and according to the feeds or 
principles fown in it. Though no body held your tenets, 
I grant there might be bad men by the force of corrupt 
appetites, and irregular paflions. But where men, to the 
force of appetite and paflion, add that of opinion, and are 
wicked from principle, there will be more men wicked, 
and thofe more incurably and outrageoufly fo. The er- 
ror of a lively rake lies in his paflions, and may be reform- 
ed : But the dry rogue, who fets up for judgment, is in- 
corrigible. It is an obfervation of Ariflotles> that there 
are two forts of debauchees, the akrates and the ako/aJIos> 
of which the one is fo againft his judgment, the other 
with it : And that there may be hopes of the former, but 
none of the latter. And, in facl:, I have always obferved, 
that a rake, who was a Minute Philofopher, when grown 
old, becomes a (harper in bufinefs. 

Lys.— I could name you feveral fuch, who have grown 
mod noted patriots. 

Cri. — Patriots ! fuch patriots as Catiline and Marc 
Antony. 

Lys.— And what then ? Thofe famous Romans were 
brave, though unfuccefsful. They wanted neither fenfe 
nor courage ; and if their fchemes had taken effecl, the 
brifker part of their countrymen had been much the better 
for them. 



too MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. II.] 

XXI. The wheels of government go on, though wound 
Up by different hands : if not in the fame form, yet in 
fome other, perhaps a better. There is an endlefs varie- 
ty in things : weak men, indeed, are prejudiced towards 
rates and fy ft ems in life and government ; and think if 
thefe are gone, all is gone : But a man of a great foul, and 
free fpirit, delights in the noble experiment of blowing up 
fyftems, and diflolving governments, to mould them anew, 
upon other principles, and in another fhape. Take my 
word for it, there is a piailic nature in things, that feeks 
its own end. Pull a ftate to pieces, jumble, confound, 
and make together the particles of human fociety, and 
then let them ftand a while, and you fhall foon fee them 
fettle, of themfelves, in fome convenient order, where 
heavy heads are lowed, and men of genius uppermoft. 

Euph. — Lyficles fpeaks his mind freely. 

Lys. — Where was the advantage of free-thinking, if it 
were not attended with free-fpeaking, or of free-fpeaking, 
if it did not produce free-a£ting ? we are for thorough, 
independent, original freedom. Inward freedom, with- 
out outward, is good for nothing, but to fet a man's judg- 
ment at variance with his practice. 

Cri.— — This free way of Lyficles may feem new to you : 
it is not fo to me. As the Minute Philofophers lay it down 
for a maxim, that there is nothing facred, of any kind, 
nothing but what may be made a jeft of, exploded, and 
changed, like the fafhion of their clothes : fo nothing is 
more frequent, than for them to utter their fchemes and 
principles, not only in felecl: companies, but even in public. 
In a certain part of the world, where ingenious men are 
wont to retail their fpeculations, I remember to have feen 
a Valetudinarian) in a long wig and a cloke, fitting at the 
upper end of a table, with half a dozen difciples about 
him. After he had talked upon religion, in a manner, 
and with an air, that would make one think atheifm eftab- 
lifhed by law, and religion only tolerated; he entered upon 



[-Dial. II.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. iot 

civil government ; and obferved to his audience, that the 
natural world was in a perpetual circulation. Animals, 
faid he, which draw their fuftenance from the earth, mix 
with that fame earth, and, in their turn, become food for 
vegetables, which again nourifh the animal kind : The va- 
pors that afcend from this globe, defcend back upon it in 
fhowers : The elements alternately prey upon each other : 
That which one part of nature iofeth, another gains ; the 
fum total remaining always the fame, being neither bigger 
nor leiTer, better nor worfe, for all thefe interline changes. 
Even fo, faid this learned profeflbr, the revolutions in the 
civil world, are no detriment to human kind : one part 
whereof rifes as the other falls, and wins by another's lofs. 
A man, therefore, who thinks deeply, and hath an eye on 
the whole fyltem, is no more a bigot to government than 
to religion. He knows how to fuit himfelf to occafions, 
and make the beft of every event : For the reft, he looks 
on all tranflations of power and property from one hand to 
another, with a philofophic indifference. Our lecturer 
concluded his difcourfe with a molt ingenious analyfis of 
all political and moral virtues, into their firft principles and 
caufes, fhewing them to be mere fafhions, tricks of ftate, 
and illusions on the vulgar. 

Lys. — We have been often told of the good effects of 
religion and learning, churches and univerfities : But I 
dare affirm, than a dozen or two ingenious men, of our 
feci:, have done more towards advancing real knowledge, 
by extemporaneous le£tures, in the compafs of a few 
years, than ail the ecclefiaftics put together, for as many 
centuries. 

Euph. — And the nation, no doubt, thrives accord- 
ingly. But, it feems, Crito, you have heard them dif- 
courfe. 

Cri. — Upon hearing this, and other lectures of the 
fame tendency, methought it was needlefs to eftablim 
profefTors for the Minute Philofophy in either univerfity, 



K52 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. II.] 

while there are fo many fpontaneous lecturers in every 
corner of the ftreets, ready to open men's eyes, and rub 
off their prejudices about religion, loyalty, and public 
fpirit. 

Lys.— If wiftiing was to any purpofe, I could wifh for 
a telefcope, that might draw into my view things future 
in time, as well as diftant in place. Oh ! that I could 
but look into the next age, and behold what it is that 
we are preparing to be, the glorious harveft of our prin- 
ciples ; the fpreading of which hath produced a vifible 
tendency in the nation towards fomething great and new. 

Cri. — One thing, I dare fay, you would expect to fee, 
be the changes and agitations of the public what they 
will, that is, every free-thinker upon his legs. You are 
all fons of nature, who cheerfully follow the fortunes of 
the common mafs. 

Lys. — And it muft be owned we have a maxim, that 
each fpould take care of one. 

Cri. — Alas, Lyjicles, you wrong your own character. 
You would fain pafs upon the world, and upon yourfelves, 
for interefted, cunning men : But can any thing be more 
difmterefted, than to facrifice all regards to the abftracl:- 
ed fpeculation of truth ? Or can any thing be more void 
of all cunning, than to publifh your difcoveries to the 
world, teach others to play the whole game, and arm 
mankind againft yourfelves. 

XXII. If a man may venture to fugged fo mean a 
thought, as the love of their country, to fouls fired with 
the love of truth, and the love of liberty, and grafping 
the whole extent of nature, I would humbly propofe it 
to you, gentlemen, to obferve the caution praftifed by 
all other difcoverers, projectors, and makers of experi- 
ments, who never hazard all on the firft trial. Would 
it not be prudent to try the fuccefs of your principles, on 
a fmall model, in fome remote corner ? For inftance, fet 



[Dial. II.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 103 

up a colony of atheifts in Alonomotapa, and fee how it 
profpers, before you proceed any further at home : Half 
a dozen fhipload of Minute Philofophers might eafily be 
fpared upon fo good a defign. In the mean time, you, 
gentlemen, who have found out, that there is nothing to 
be hoped or feared in another life ; that confcience is a 
bugbear ; that the bands of government, and the cement 
of human fociety, are rotten things, to be diflblved, and 
crumbled into nothing, by the argumentation of every 
Minute Philofopher ; be fo good as to keep thefe fublime 
difcoveries to yourfelves : Suffer us, our wives, our chil- 
dren, our fervants, and our neighbors, to continue in the 
belief, and way of thinking, eftablifhed by the laws of 
our country. In good earneft, I wifti you would go try 
your experiments among the Hottentots or Turks, 

Lys. — The Hottentots we think well of, believing them 
to be an unprejudiced people *, but it is to be feared their 
diet and cultoms wpuld not agree with our philofophers. 
As for the Turks, they are bigots, who have a notion of 
God, and a refpedl for Jefus Chrift. I queftion whether 
it might be fafe to venture among them. 

Cri. — Make your experiment then in fome other part 
of Chfijiendom. 

Ly s. — We hold all other chriftian nations to be much 
under the power of prejudice : even our neighbors, the 
Dutch, are too much prejudiced in favor of their religion, 
by law eftabliflied, for a prudent man to attempt innova- 
tions under their government. Upon the whole, it feems 
we can execute our fchemes no where, with fo much fe- 
curity, and fuch profpeel: of fuccefs, as at home. Not 
to fay, that we have already made a good progrefs. Oh ! 
that we could but once fee a parliament of true, fbnch, 
libortine free-thinkers ! 

Cri. — God forbid ! I mould be forry to have fuch men 
for my fervants, not to fay, for my mailers. 

Lys.— In that we differ. 



io 4 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER [Dial. II.] 

XXIII. But you will agree with me, that the right 
way to come at this was, to begin with extirpating the 
prejudices of particular perfons. We have carried on 
this work, for many years, with much art and induftry, 
and, at firft, with fecrecy, working like moles under 
ground, concealing our progrefs from the public, and 
our ultimate views from many, even of our own profe- 
lytes, blowing the coals between polemical divines, lay- 
ing hold on, and improving every incident, which the 
pailions or folly of churchmen afforded, to the advantage 
of our feci:. As our principles obtained, we flill pro- 
ceeded to further inferences'; and, as our numbers mul- 
tiplied, we gradually difclofed ourfelves and our opinions. 
Where we are now, I need not fay. We have flubbed, 
and weeded, and cleared human nature to that degree, 
that, in a little time, leaving it alone without any labor- 
ing or teaching, you fhall fee natural and juft ideas fprout 
forth of themfelves. 

Cri. — But I have heard a man, who had lived long, 
and obferved much, remark, that the worft and moll: 
unwholfome weed, was* this fame Minute Philofophy. 
We have had, faid he, divers epidemical diftempers in 
the ftate, but this hath produced, of all others, the moft 
deftru£Hve plague. Enthufiafm had its day, its effects 
were violent, and foon over : this infects more quietly, 
but fpreads widely. The former bred a fever in the ftate ; 
this breads a confumption, and final decay. A rebellion, 
or an invafion, alarms, and puts the public upon its de- 
fence ; but a corruption of principles, works its ruin 
more flowly perhaps, but more furely. This may be il- 
luftrated by a fable, I fomewhere met with in the writings 
of a Sivifs philofopher, fetting forth the original of bran- 
dy and gunpowder. The government of the north being 
once upon a time vacant, the prince of the power of the 
air convened a council in hell ; wherein, upon competi- 
tion between two demons of rank, it was determined they 



[Dial. II.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 105 

(hould both make trial of their abilities, and he ihould 
iucceed, who did moft mifchief. One made his appear- 
ance in the (hape of gunpowder, the other in that of bran- 
dy : The former was a declared enemy, and roared with 
a terrible noife, which made folks afraid, and put them 
on their guard : the other pafled as a friend and phyfician 
through the world, difguifed himfelf with fweets, and 
perfumes, and drugs, made his way into the ladies' cabi- 
nets, and the apothecaries' fhops, and, under the notion 
of helping digeftion, comforting the fpirits, and cheering 
the heart, produced direcl: contrary effects ; and, having 
infenfibly thrown great numbers of human kind into 
a fatal decay, was found to people hell and the grave fo 
fail:, as to merit the government, which he dill pofTefies. 

XXIV. L.Ys.-~Thofe who pleafe may amufe them- 
felves with fables and allegories. This is plain Englifo — 
Liberty is a good thing, and we are the iupport of liberty. 

Cri.— To me it feems, that liberty and virtue were 
made for each other. If any man wifii to en Have his 
country, nothing is a fitter preparative than vice ; and 
nothing leads to vice fo furely as irreligion. For my part, 
I cannot comprehend, or find out, after having coniidered 
it in all lights, how this crying down religion, mould be 
the effect of honeft views towards a juft and legal liberty. 
Some feem to prcpofe an indulgence in vice : others may 
have in profpecl: the advantages which needy and ambi- 
tious men are ufed to make in the ruin of a ftate : One 
may indulge a pert petulant fpirit : Another hopes to be 
eiteemcd among libertines, when he wants wit to pleafe, 
or abilities to be ufeful. But, be men's views what they 
will, let us examine what good your principles have done : 
Who has been the better for the inftru&ions of thefe Mi- 
nute Philofophers ? Let us compare what we are in refpe6t 
of learning, loyalty, honefly, wealth, power, and public 
fpirit, with what we have been. Free-thinking, (as it is 

O 



io6 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. II.] 

called) hath wonderfully grown of late years. Let us fee 
what hath grown up with it, or what effects it hath produ- 
ced . To make a catalogue of ills is difagreeable : And 
the only bleffing it can pretend to, is luxury : That fame 
bleffing, which revenged the world upon old Rome : That 
fame luxury, whichmakes a nation, like a difeafed pamper- 
ed body, look full and fat, with one foot in the grave. 

Lys. — You miftake the matter. There are no people 
who think and argue better about the public good of a 
itate, than our feci: ; who have alfo invented many things 
tending to that end, which we cannot, as yet, conveniently 
put in practice. 

Cri. — But one point there is, from which it mufl be 
owned, the public hath already received fome advantage, 
which is the effecl: of your principles, flowing from them, 
and fpreading as they do : I mean that old Roman practice 
of felf-murder, which at once puts an end to all diftrefs, 
ridding the world and themfelves of the miferable. 

Lys.— You were pleafed before to make reflexions on 
this cuftom, and laugh at the irrefolution of our free-think- 
ers ; but I can aver, for matter of fa£t, that they have 
often recommended it by their example, as well as argu- 
ments ; and that it is folely owing to them, that a prac- 
tice, fo ufeful and magnanimous, hath been taken out of 
the hands of lunatics, and reftored to that credit among 
men of fenfe, which it anciently had. In whatever light 
you may consider it, this is, in fa£t, a folid benefit. But 
the beft effecl of our principles is, that light and truth fo 
vifibly fpread abroad in the world. From how many pre- 
judices, errors, perplexities, and contradictions, have we 
freed the minds of our fellow-fubjecls ? how many hard 
words, and intricate abfurd notions, had pofTefled the minds 
of men, before our Philofophers appeared in the world ? 
but now, even women and children have right and found 
notions of things. "What fay you to this, Crito ? 

Cri. — I fay, with refpecl to thefe great advantages of 



[Dial. II.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 107 

deftroying men and notions, that I queftion, whether the 
public gains as much by the latter, as it lofethby the for- 
mer. For my own part, I had rather my wife and children 
all believed what they had no notion of, and daily pronoun- 
ced words without a meaning, than that any one of them 
fhould cut his throat, or- leap out of a window. Errors 
and nonfenfe, as fuch, are of fmall concern in the eye of 
the public, which confidereth not the metaphyfical truth 
of notions, fo much as the tendency they have to produce 
good or evil. Truth itfelf is valued by the public, as it 
hath an influence, and is felt in the courfe of life. You 
may confute a whole fhelf of fchoolmen, and difcover ma- 
ny fpeculative truths, without any great merit towards 
your country. But, if I am not miftaken, the Minute 
Philofophers are not the men to whom we are mod be- 
holden for difcoveries of that kind. This, I fay, mult be 
allowed ; fuppofing, what I by no means grant, your notions 
to be true. For, to fay plainly what I think, the tendency 
of your opinions is fo bad, that no good man can endure 
them, and your arguments for them fo weak, that no wife 
man will admit them. 

Lys. — Has it not been proved as clear as the meridian 
fun, that the politer fort of men lead much happier lives, 
and fwim in plcafures, fmce the fpreading of our princi- 
ples ? But, not to repeat or infill further on what has 
been fo amply deduced, I ihall only add, that the advan- 
tages flowing from them, extend to the tendered age, and 
the fofter fex. Our principles deliver children from ter- 
rors by night, and the ladies from fplenetic hours by day. 

Cri. — Inftead of thofe old fafhioned things, prayers 
and the bible, the grateful amufements of drams, dice, and 
billet-doux have fucceeded. The fair fex have now no- 
thing to do but drefs and paint, drink and game, adorn and 
divert themfelves, and enter into all the fweet fociety of 
life. But I thought, Lyftcles, the argument from pleafure 
had been exhaufted : however, fmce you have not done 



io8 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dufc II] 

with that point, let us once more, by Euphmnor's rule, call 
up the account of pleafure and pain, as credit and debt, 
under diftincT: articles. We will fet down in the life of 
your fine lady, rich clothes, dice, cordials, fcandal, 
late hours, againfl vapours, diftafte, remorfe, lofles at play, 
and the terrible diftrefs of ill fpent age, increafing every 
day: fuppofe no cruel accident of jealoufy, no madnefs 
or infamy of love ; yet at the foot of the account, you fhall 
find that empty, giddy, gaudy, fluttering thing, not half fo 
happy as a butterfly, or a grafhopper, on a fummer's day. 
And for a rake, or man of pleafure, the reckoning will be 
much the fame, if you place liftleflhefs, ignorance, rotten- 
nefs, loathing, craving, quarrelling, and fuch qualities, or 
aecomplifhments, over-againft his little circle of fleeting 
amufements ; long woe againfl momentary pleafure : And, 
if it be confidered, that when fenfe and appetite go off, 
though he feek refuge from his confcience in the Minute 
Philofophy, yet in this you will find, if you fift him to the 
bottom, that he affedls much, believes little, knows no- 
thing. 

Upon which Lyficles, turning to me, obferved, that Crits 
might difpute againfl fa£t if he pleafed, but that every one 
mud fee the nation was the merrier for their principles. 
True, anfwered Crito> we are a merry nation indeed : young 
men laugh at the old ; children defpife their parents ; and 
fubje&s make a jefl of the government : happy effects of 
the Minute Philofophy ! 

XXV. Lys.> — Infer what effects you pleafe, that will 
not make our principles lefs true. 

Cri.— Their truth is not what I am now confidering. 
The point at prefent is the ufefulnefs of your principles : 
And, to decide this point, we need only take a fhort 
view of them, fairiy propofed, and laid together : that 
there is no God or providence ; that man is as the beafts 
•that perifh \ that his happiaefs, as their's, confifts in obey- 



[Dial.IL] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 109 

ing animal inftin&s, appetites, and paflions ; that all flings 
of conscience, andfenfe of guilt, are prejudices and errors 
of education ; that religion is a (late trick ; that vice is 
beneficial to the public ; that the foul of man is corporeal, 
and diflblveth like a flame or vapour ; that man is a ma- 
chine, actuated according to the laws of motion ; that 
confequently he is no agent or fubjecl: of guilt ; that a 
wife man will make his own particular individual intereft, 
in this prefent life, the rule and meafure of all his actions : 
thefe, and fuch opinions, are, it feems, the tenets of a Mi- 
nute Philofopher, who is himfelf, according to his own 
principles, an organ played on by fenfible objects, a ball 
bandied about by appetites and paflions : fo fubtle is he, 
as to be able to maintain all this by artful reafonings ; fo 
fharp-fighted and penetrating to the very bottom of things, 
as to find out, that the moll interefted occult cunning is 
the only true wifdom. To compleat his character, this 
curious piece of clock-work, having no principle of action 
within itfelf, and denying that it hath, or can have any 
one free thought or motion, fets up for the patron of liber- 
ty, and earneftly contends, for free-thinking. 

Crito had no fooner made an end, but Lyficles addrefT- 
ed himfelf to Euphranor and me : Crito, faid he, has tak- 
en a world of pains, but convinced me only of one fingle 
point, to wit, that I mult defpair of convincing him. Ne- 
ver did I, in the whole courfe of my life, meet with a man 
fo deeply iminerfed in prejudice ; let who will pull him 
out for me. But I entertain better hopes of you. I can 
anfwer, faid I, for myfelf, that my eyes and ears are al- 
ways open to conviction : I am attentive to all that pafles, 
and, upon the whole, fliall form, whether right or wrong, 
a very impartial judgment. Crito, faid Euphranor, is a 
more entcrprifing man than I, thus to rate and lecture a 
philofopher. For my part, I always find it eafier to 
learn than to teach. I fliall therefore beg your afnitance 
to rid me of fome fcruples about the tendency of your 



no MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. II.] 

opinions, which I find myfelf unable to mailer, though 
ever fo willing. This done, though we mould not tread 
exactly in the fame fteps, nor perhaps go the fame road ; 
yet we fhall not run, in all points, diametrically oppofite 
one to another. 

XXVI. Tell me now, Lyjcks, you who are a minute 
obferver of things, whether a fhade be more agreeable at 
morning or evening, or noon-day. 

Lys. — Doubtlefs at noon-day. 

Euph. — And what difpofeth men to reft ? 

Lys. — Exercife. 

Euph. — When do men make the greateft fires ? 

Lys. — In the coldeft weather. 

Euph. — And what creates a love for iced liquors ? 

Lys. — Exceffive heat. 

Euph. — What if you raife a pendulum to a great height 
on one fide ? 

Lys. — It will, when left to itfelf, afcend fo much the 
higher on the other. 

Euph. — It mould feem, therefore, that darknefs en- 
fues from light, reft from motion, heat from cold, and, 
in general, that one extreme is the confequence of ano- 
ther. 

Lys. — It fhould feem fo. 

Euph. — And doth not this obfervation hold in the civil, 
as well as the natural world ? Doth not power produce 
licence, and licence power ? Do not whigs make tories, 
and tories whigs ? Bigots make atheifts, and atheifts big- 
ots ? 

Lys. — Granting this to be true. 

Euph. — Will it not hence follow, that as we abhor 
flavifh principles, we fhould avoid running into licentious 
ones ? I am, and always was, a fincere lover of liberty, 
legal Englijh liberty •, which I efteem a chief blefling, or- 
nament, and comfort of life, and the great prerogative of 



[Dial. II.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 



in 



an Englifiman. But is it not to be feared, that, upon 
the nation's running into a licentioufnefs, which hath 
never been endured in any civilized country, men, feel- 
ing the intolerable evHs of one extreme, may naturally 
fall into the other ? You muft allow, the bulk of man- 
kind are not philofophers, like you and Alciphron, 

Lys. — This I readily acknowledge. 

Euph. — I have another fcruple about the tendency of 
your opinions. Suppofe you mould prevail, and deftroy 
the proteftant church and clergy ; how could you come 
at the popifh ? I am credibly informed, there are a great 
number of emiflaries of the church of Rome difguifed, in 
England : Who can tell what harveft a clergy fo numer- 
ous, fo fubtle, and fo well furnifhed with arguments to 
work on vulgar and uneducated minds, may be able to 
make in a country defpoiled of all religion, and feeling the 
want of it ? Who can tell whether the fpirit of free-think- 
ing, ending with the oppofition, and the vanity with the 
diltin&ion, when the whole nation are alike infidels, who 
can tell, I fay, whether, in fuch a juncture, the men of 
genius themfelves may not affect a new diilincl:ion, and 
be the firfl converts to popery ? 

Lys. — And fuppofe they fhould. Between friends it 
would be no great matter. Thefe are Our maxims : In 
the firft place, we hold it would be beft to have no reli- 
gion at all. Secondly, we hold that all religions are indif- 
ferent. If, therefore, upon trial, we find the country 
cannot do without a religion, why not popery as well as 
another ? I know feveral ingenious men of our feci:, who, 
if we had a popifh prince on the throne, would turn pa- 
pifts to-morrow. This is a paradox, but I fhall explain it. 
A prince whom we compliment with our religion, to be 
fure, mud be grateful. 

Eupk.* — I underfland you. But what becomes of 
free-thinking all the while ? 

Lys. — Oh ! we fhould have more than ever of that, 



ii2 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. II.] 

for we fhould keep it all to ourfelvcs. As for the aniufe- 
ment of retailing it, the want of this would be largely 
compenfated by folid advantages of another kind. 

Euph. — It feems then, by. this account, the tendency, 
you obferved in the nation towards fomething great and 
new, proves a tendency towards popery and flavery. 

Lys.— -Miftake us not, good Euphranor. The thing 
iirfi: in our intention is confummate liberty : But if this 
will not do, and there mult, after all, be fuch things to- 
lerated as religion and government, we are wifely willing 
to make the beft of both. 

Cri, — This puts me in mind of a thought I have of- 
ten had, that Minute Philofophers are dupes of the jefuits. 
The two mod avowed, profefTed, bufy propagators of in- 
fidelity, in all companies, and upon all occafions, that I 
ever met with, were both bigoted papifts ; and being 
both men of confiderable eftates, fuffered confiderably on 
that fcore ; which it is wonderful their thinking dif- 
ciples mould never reflecl: on. Hegemon, a moft diftin- 
guiihed writer among the Minute Philofophers, and hero 
of ih.Q feci:, I am well allured, was once a papift, and ne- 
ver heard that he profeffed any other religion. I know 
that many of the church of Rome abroad, are pleafed with 
the growth of infidelity among us, as hoping it may make 
way for them. The emiifaries of Rome are known to 
have perfenated feveral other fetta, which, from time to 
time, have fprung up among us ; and why not this of the 
Minute Philofophers, of all others, the beft calculated to 
tuin both church and ftate ? I myfelf have known a jefuit 
abroad talk among Englijb gentlemen like a free-thinker. 
I am credibly informed, that jefuits, known to be fuch 
by the Minute Philofophers at home, are admitted into 
their clubs : and I have obferved them to approve, and 
fpeak better of the jefuits, than of any other clergy what- 
foever. Thofe who are not acquainted with the fubtle 
fpirit, the refined politics, and wonderful economy of 



[Dial. II.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 113 

that renowned fociety, need only read the account given 
of them by the jefuit, Inchofer, in his book De Monar- 
chia Solip forum •, and thofe who are, will not be furpriled 
that they fhould be able to make dupes of our Minute 
Philofophers. Dupes, I lay, for I can never think they 
lufpecl: that they are only tools to ferve the ends of cun- 
ninger men than themfelves. They feem to me drunk 
and giddy with a falfe notion of liberty, and fpurred on, 
by this principle, to make mad experiments on their coun- 
try, they agree only in pulling down all that ftands in 
their way •, without any concerted fcheme, and without 
caring, or knowing, what to ere£r. in its (lead. To hear 
them, as I have often done, defcant on the moral virtues, 
refolve them into mame, then laugh at fhame as a weak- 
nefs, admire the unconfined lives of favages, defpife all 
order and decency of education j one would think the in- 
tention of thefe philofophers was, when they had pruned 
and weeded the notions of their fellow-fubje£ts, and di- 
verted them of their prejudices, to {trip them of their 
clothes, and fill the country with naked followers of na- 
ture, enjoying all the privileges of brutality. 

Here Crito made a paufe, and fixed his eyes on Alci- 
phrcn, who during this whole converfation had fat thought- 
ful and attentive, without faying a word ; and with an air, 
one while diflatisfied at what Lyficles advanced, another, 
ferene and pleafed, feeming to approve fome better thought 
of his own. But the day being now far fpent, Alclphron 
propofed to adjourn the argument till the following ; 
when, faid he, I {hall fet matters on a new foundation, 
and in fo full and clear a light, as, I doubt not, will give 
intire fatisfaction. So we changed the difcourfe, and, af- 
ter a repaft upon cold provifions, took a walk on the ftrand, 
and in the cool of the evening returned to Crlto's. 

P 






THE 

THIRD DIALOGUE. 

J. Alciphron's Account of Honor. II. Character and Con- 
duel of Men of Honor. III. Senfe of moral Beauty. 
IV. The Honejlum or to kalon of the Ancients. V. Ta/le 
for moral Beauty whether a fure Guide or Rule. VI. 
Minute Philofophers ravi/hed with the Abflracl Beauty of 
Virtue. VII. Their Virtue alone difinterejled and heroic. 

VIII. Beauty offenfible Objecls, what, and how perceived. 

IX. The Idea of Beauty explained by Painting and Archi- 
tecture. X. Beauty of the moral Svjlem, wherein it con- 

fijls. XI. It Juppofeth a Providence. XII. Influence of 
to kalon and to prepon. XIII. Enthufwfm of Cratylus 
compared with the fentiments of Ariftotle. XIV. Com* 
pared with the Stoical Principles. XV. Minute Philofo- 
phers, their Talent for Railery and Ridicule. XVI. The 
Wifdom of thofe who make Virtue alone its own Reward. 



HE following day, as we fat round the tea-table, 
in a fummer parlour, which looks into the garden, Alciphron, 
after the firft difh, turned down his cup, and, reclining back 
in his chair, proceeded as follows. Above all the fe£b up- 
on earth, it is the peculiar privilege of ours, not to be tied 
down by any principles. While other philofophers pro- 
fefs a fervile adherence to certain tenets, ours affert a no- 
ble freedom, differing not only one from another, but very 
often the fame man from himfelf. Which method of 
proceeding, befide other advantages, hath this annexed to 
it, that we are, of all men, the hardeft to confute. You 
may, perhaps, confute a particular tenet, but then this 
aftedts only him who maintains it, and fo long only as he 
maintains it. Some of our feci; dogmatize more than 



1x6 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. III.] 

others, and in fome, more than other points. The doctrine 
of the ufefulnefs of vice is a point wherein we are not all 
agreed. Some of us are great admirers of virtue. With 
others, the points of vice and virtue are problematical. 
For my own part, though I think the doctrine maintained 
yefterday, by Lyficles, an ingenious fpeculation ; yet, upon 
the whole, there are divers reafons which incline me to de- 
part from it, and rather to efpoufe the virtuous fide of the 
queftion ; with the fmalleft, perhaps, but the moft contem- 
plative and laudable part of our feet. It feemeth, I fay, 
after a nice inquiry, and balancing on both fides, that we 
ought to prefer virtue to vice ; and thatTuch preference 
would contribute both to the public weal, and the reputa- 
tion of our philofophers. You are to know then, we have 
among us feveral that, without one grain of religion, are 
men of the niceft honor, and, therefore, men of virtue, be- 
caufe men of honor. Honor is a noble unpojluted fource 
of virtue, without the leaft mixture of fear, intereft or fu- 
perflition. It hath all the advantages, without the evils, 
which attend religion. It is the mark of a great and fine' 
foul, and is to be found among perfons of rank and breed- 
ing. It affecls the court, the fenate, and the camp, and, 
in general, every rendezvous of people of fafhion. 

Euph. — You fay then, that honor is the fource of vir- 
tue. 

Alc. — I do. 

Euph. — Can a thing be the fource of itfelf ? 

Alc. — It cannot. 

Euph. — The fource, therefore, is diftinguifhed from 
that of which it is the fource. 

Alc. — Doubtlefs. 

Euph. — Honor then is one thing, and virtue another. 

Alc.-— I grant it. Virtuous actions are the effe&, and 
honor is the fource or caufe of that efTecl:. 

Euph. — Tell me. Is honor the will, producing thofe 
actions, or the final caufe for which they are produced, or 



[Dial. III.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 117 

right reafon, which is their rule and limit, or the object 
about which they are converfant ? or do you by the word 
Honor, underftand a faculty, or appetite ? all which are 
fuppofed, in one fenfe or other, to be the fource of human 
adtions. 

Alc. — Nothing of all this. 

Euph.— - Be pleafed then to give me fome notion or 
definition of it. Alciphron> having mufed a while, anfwer- 
ed, that he defined honor to be a principle of virtuous ac- 
tions. To which Ruphranor replied *, if I underftand it 
rightly, the word principle is varioufly taken. Sometimes, 
by principles, we mean the parts of which a whole is com- 
pofed, and into which it may be refolved. Thus the ele- 
ments are faid to be principles of compound bodies. And 
thus words, fyliables, and letters are the principles of 
fpeech. Sometimes, by principle, we mean a fmall par- 
ticular feed, the growth or gradual unfolding of which 
doth produce an organized body, animal or vegetable, in 
its proper fize and fhape. Principles, at other times, are 
fuppofed to be certain fundamental theorems in arts and 
fciences, in religion and politics. Let me know in which 
of thefe fenfes, or whether it be in fome other fenfe, that 
you underftand the word, when you fay, honor is a princi- 
ple of virtue-. To this Alciphron replied, that, for his part, 
he meant it in none of thofe fenfes, but defined honor to 
be a certain ardor of enthufiafm that glowed in the bread 
of a gallant man. Upon this, Ruphranor obfervcd, it was 
always admitted to put the definition in place of the thing 
defined. Is this allowed, faid he, or not ? 

Alc. — It is. 

Euph. — May we not, therefore, fay, that a man of hon- 
or is a warm man, or an enthufiaft ? Alciphron hearing this, 
declared, that fuch exac~tnefs was to no purpofe, that pe- 
dants, indeed, may difpute and define, but could never reach 
that high fenfe of honor, which diftinguiflicd the fine gen- 
tleman, and was a thing rather to be felt than explained. 



n8 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER [Dial. III.] 

II. Crito, perceiving that Alciphron could not bear being 
preffed any farther on that article, and willing to give 
fome fatisfa&ion to Euphranor, faid, That of himfelf, in- 
deed, he mould not undertake to explain fo nice a point ; 
but he would retail to them part of a converfation he once 
heard between Nicander, a Minute Philofopher, and Me- 
necles, a chriftian, upon the fame fubje£t, which was, 
for fubftance, as follows : 

M. From what principle are you, gentlemen, virtuous ? 

N. From honor. We are men of honor. 

M. May not a man of honor debauch another's wife, 
or get drunk, or fell a vote, or refufe to pay his debts, 
without leflening or tainting his honor ? 

N. He may have the vices and faults of a gentleman : 
but is obliged to pay debts of honor, that is, all fuch as 
are contracted by play. 

M. Is your man of honor always ready to refent af- 
fronts, and engage in duels ? 

N. He is ready to demand and give a gentleman's fatis- 
fa£tion, upon all proper occafions. 

M. It fhould feem, by this account, that to ruin tradef- 
men, break faith to one's own wife, corrupt another man's, 
take bribes, cheat the public, cut a man's throat for a 
word, are all points confident with your principles of 
honor. 

N. It cannot be denied that we are men of gallantry, 
men of fire, men who know the world, and all that. 

M. It feems, therefore, that honor among infidels, is 
like honefty among pirates : fomething confined to them- 
felves, and which the fraternity may perhaps find their 
account in, but every one elfe fhould be on his guard 
againft. 

By this dialogue, continued Crito, a man, who lives out 
of the grand mondc, may be enabled to form fome notion 
of what the world calls honor, and men of honor. 

Euph.< — I muft in treat you not to put me off with iV7- 
cander\ opinion, whom, I know nothing of \ but rather 



[Dial. III.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. n 9 

give me your own judgment, drawn from your own ob- 
servation upon men of honor. 

Cm. — If I mull pronounce, I can very fincerely affure 
you that, by all I have heard or feen, I could never find, 
that honor, confidered as a principle diftincl: from con- 
fcience, religion, reafon and virtue, was more than an 
empty name. And I do verily believe, that thofe who 
build upon that notion have lefs virtue than other men ; 
and that what they have, or feem to have, is owing to 
faihion (being of the reputable kind) if not to a confcience 
early imbued with religious principles, and afterwards re- 
taining a tincture from them, without knowing it. Thefe 
two principles feem to account for all that looks like vir- 
tue in thofe gentlemen. Your men of faihion, in whom 
animal life abounds, a fort of bullies in morality, who 
difdain to have it thought they are afraid of confcience ; 
thefe defcant much upon honor, and affecl: to be called 
men of honor, rather than confcientious or honeft men. 
But, by all that I could ever obferve, this fpecious cha- 
racter, where there is nothing of confcience or religion 
underneath, to give it life and fubflance, is no better than 
a meteor or painted cloud. 

Euph. — I had a confufed notion, that honor was fome- 
thing nearly connected with truth : and that men of hon- 
or were the greateft enemies to all hypocrify, fallacy, and 
difguife. 

Cri. — So far from that, an infidel, who fets up for the 
nicefl: honor, mail, without the leaft grain of faith or re- 
ligion, pretend himfelf a chriflian, take any teft, join in 
any acl: of worfliip, kneel, pray, receive the facrament, to 
ferve an intereft. The fame perfon, without any im- 
peachment of his honor, (hall mod folemnly declare and 
promife, in the face of God and the world, that he will 
love his wife, and, forfaking all others, keep only to her, 
when at the fame time it is certain, he intends never to 
perform one tittle of his vow •, and convinceth the whole 



i2o MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. HI.] 

world of this as foon as he gets her in his power, and her 
fortune, for the fake of which this man of untainted hon- 
or makes no fcruple to cheat and lie. 

Euph. — We had a notion, here in the country, that it 
was of all things mod odious, and a matter of much rifk 
and peril, to give the lie to a man of honor. 

Cri. — It is very true. He abhors to take the lie, but 
not to tell it. 

III. Alciphron, having heard all this with great compo- 
fure of mind and countenance, fpake as follows. The 
word free-thinker, as it comprehends men of very different 
forts and fentiments, cannot, in a Uriel: fenfe, be faid to 
conftitute one particular feci:, holding a certain fyftem of 
pofitive and diflincl: opinions. Though it muft be own- 
ed, we do all agree in certain points of unbelief, or nega- 
tive principles, which agreement, in fome fenfe, unites us 
under the common idea of one feet. But then thofe nega- 
tive principles, as they happen to take root in men of differ- 
ent age, temper, and education, do produce various ten- 
dencies, opinions, and characters, widely differing one- 
from another. You are not to think that our greateft 
ftrength lies in our greateft number, libertines, and mere 
men of honor. No, we have among us philofophers of 
a very different character, men of curious contemplation, 
not governed by fuch grofs things as fenfe and cuftom, but 
of an abftracted virtue and fublime morals ; and the lefs 
religious, the more virtuous. For virtue of the high and 
difinterefted kind, no man is fo well qualified as an infidel, 
it being a mean and felfifh thing to be virtuous through fear 
or hope. The notion of a providence, and future ftate of 
rewards and punifhments, may indeed tempt or fcare men 
of abjeel: fpirit into practices contrary to the natural bent 
of their fouls, but will never produce a true and genuine 
virtue. To go to the bottom of things, to analyfe virtue 
into its firit principles, and fix a fcheme of morals on its 
true bans, you muft understand, that there is an idea of 



[Dial. III.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. W 

beauty natural to the mind of man. This all men defire, 
this they are pleafed and delighted with, for its own fake, 
purely from an inftincl: of nature. A man needs no ar- 
guments to make him difcern and approve what is beau- 
tiful : it ftrikes at firft fight, and attracts without a rea- 
fon. And as this beauty is found in the friape and form 
of corporeal things ; fo alfo is there analogous to it, a 
beauty of another kind, an order, a fymmetry, and come- 
linefs, in the moral world. And, as the eye perceiveth 
the one, fo the mind doth, by a certain interior fenfe, 
perceive the other ; which fenfe, talent, or faculty, is 
ever quickeft and pureft in the nobleft minds. Thus, as by 
fight, I difcern the beauty of a plant, or an animal, even 
fo the mind apprehends the moral excellence, the beauty 
and decorum of juftice and temperance. And, as we 
readily pronounce a drefs becoming, or an attitude grace- 
ful, we can, with the fame free untutored judgment, at 
once declare, whether this or that conduct:, or action, 
be comely and beautiful. To rclim .this kind of beauty, 
there muft be a delicate and fine tafte : But where there 
is this natural tafte, nothing further is wanting, cither as 
a principle to convince, or as a motive to induce men to 
the love of virtue. And more or lefs there is of this tafte 
or fenfe, in every creature that hath reafon. All ration- 
al beings are by nature facial. They are drawn one to- 
wards another, by natural affections. They unite and in- 
corporate into families, clubs, parties, and common- 
wealths, by mutual fympathy. As by means of the fen- 
fitive foul, our feveral diftinct. parts and members do con- 
fent towards the animal functions, and are connected in 
one whole ; even fo, the feveral parts of theie rational 
fyftems, or bodies politic, by virtue of this moral or in- 
terior fenfe, are held together, have • a fellow-feeling, do 
fuccour and protect each other, and jointly cooperate to- 
wards the fame end. Hence that joy in fociety, that pro- 
t»enfion towards doing good to our kind, that gratulatioa 



i22 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. III.] 

and delight in beholding the virtuous deeds of other men, 
or in reflecting on our own. By contemplation of the 
fitnefs and order of the parts of a moral fyftem, regular- 
ly operating, and knit together by benevolent affe&ions, 
the mind of man attaineth to the higheft notion of beau- 
ty, excellence, and perfection. Seized and wrapt with 
this fublime idea, our philofophers do infinitely defpife 
and pity whoever fhall propofe or accept any other mo- 
tive to virtue. Intereft is a mean ungenerous thing, def- 
troying the merit of virtue : and falfhood, of every kind, 
is inconfiftent with the genuine fpirit of philofophy. 

Cri. — The love, therefore, that you bear to moral 
beauty, and your pafHon for abflra&ed truth, will not fuf- 
fer you to think with patience of thofe fnpidulent imposi- 
tions upon mankind, Providence, the immortality of the 
foul, and a future retribution of rewards and punifh- 
meiits ; which, under the notion of promoting, do, it 
feems, deftroy all true virtue, and, at the fame time, con- 
tradict and difparage your noble theories, manifeftly 
tending to the perturbation and difquiet of men's minds, 
and filling them with fruitlefs hopes, and vain terrors. 

Alc. — Men's flrft thoughts, and natural notions, are 
the beft in moral matters. And there is no need that 
mankind mould be preached, or reafoned, or frightened 
into virtue, a thing fo natural and congenial to every hu- 
man foul. Now if this be the cafe, as it certainly is, it 
follows, that all the ends of fociety are fecured without 
religion, and that an infidel bids fair to be the mofl vir- 
tuous man, in a true, fublime, and heroic fenie. 

IV. Euph. — O Alciphron i while you talk, I feel an 
affection in my foul, like the trembling of one lute upon 
(Inking the unilon firings of another. Doubtlefs, there is 
a beauty of the mind, a charm in virtue, a fymmetry and 
proportion in the moral world. This moral beauty was 
known to the ancients by the name of homfium^ or to ka- 



[Dial. III.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 123 

Jon. And, in order to know its force and influence, it may 
not be amifs to inquire, what it was underitood to be, 
and what light it was placed in, by thofe who firfl con- 
fidered it, and gave it a name. To kalon> according to 
Ariflotle, is the epoineton, or laudable : according to Plato, 
it is the ediiy or ophetimon, pleafant, or profitable, which 
is meant with refpedv. to a reafonable mind, and its true 
intereft. Now I would fain know, whether a mind, 
which confiders an action as laudable, be not carried be- 
yond the bare action itfelf, to regard the opinion of 
others concerning it ? 

Alc. — It is. 

Euph. — And whether this be a fufficient ground or 
principle of virtue, for a man to act upon, when he 
thinks himfelf removed from the eye and obfervation of 
every other intelligent being r 

Alc. — It feems not. 

Euph. — Again, I afk whether a man, who doth a 
thing pleafant or profitable as fuch, muft not be fuppo- 
fed to forbear doing it, or even to do the contrary, upon 
the profpect of greater pleafure or profit ? 

Alc-*— He muft. 

Euph. — Doth it not follow from hence, that the beau- 
ty of virtue, or to kalon, in either Artjlotles or Plato's 
fenfe, is not a fufficient principle, or ground, to engage 
fenfual and worldly-minded men in the practice of it ? 

Alc— What then ? 

Euph. — Why, then it will follow, that hope of re- 
ward, and fear of punifhment, are highly expedient to 
caft the balance of pleafant and profitable on the fide of 
virtue, and thereby very much conduce to the benefit of 
human fociety. Alciphron, upon this, appealed : Gen- 
tlemen, faid he, you are witnefies of this unfair proceed- 
ing of Euphranor, who argues againft us, from explica- 
tions given by Plato and Ari/Iotle, of the beauty of virtue, 
which are things we have nothing to fay to \ the philo- 



h 4 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. HI.] 

fophers of our feci: abftra&ing from all praife, pleafure, 
and intereft, -when they are enamoured and tranfport- 
ed with that fublime idea. I beg pardon, replied Eu- 
phranor, for fuppofing the Minute Philofophers, of Our 
days, think like thofe ancient fages. But you muft tell 
me, Alciphrotiy fince you do not think fit to adopt the 
fenfe of Plato or Arificile, what fenfe is it in which you 
underftand ihe beauty of virtue ? Define it, explain it, 
make me to underftand your meaning, that fo we may 
argue about the fame thing, without which we can never 
come to a conclufion. 

V. Alc. — Some things are better underftood by de- 
finitions and defcriptions ; but I have always obferved, 
that thofe, who would define, explain, and difpute about 
this point, make the lead of it. Moral beauty is of fo 
peculiar and abftra£ted a nature, fomething fo fubtile, 
fine, and fugacious, that it will not bear being handled 
and infpe&ed, like every grofs and common fubjecl:. You 
will, therefore, pardon me, if I (land upon my philofophic 
liberty ; and choofe rather to intrench myfelf, within the 
general and indefinite fenfe, rather than, by entering into 
a precife and particular explication of this beauty, per- 
chance lofe fight of it •, or give you fome hold whereon to 
cavil, and infer, and raife doubts, queries, and difficulties, 
about a point as clear as the fun, when nobody reafons 
upon it. 

Euph. — How fay you, A/ciphron, is that notion clear- 
eft when it is not confidered ? 

Alc. — I fay, it is rather to be felt than underftood, a 
certain je ne Jcai quoi. An object, not of the difcurfive 
faculty, but of a peculiar fenfe, which is properly called 
the moral fenfe, being adapted to the perception of moral 
beauty, as the eye to colours, or the ear to founds. 

Euph. — That men have certain inftint~tive fenfations, 
or paflions, from nature, which make them amiable and 



[Dial. III.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 125 

ufeful to each other, I am clearly convinced. Such are 
fellow-feeling with the diftreffed, a tendernefs for our 
offspring, an affection towards our friends, our neighbors, 
and our country, an indignation againft things bafe, cru- 
el, or unjuft. Thefe paflions are implanted in the human 
foul, with feveral other fears and appetites, averfions and 
defires, fome of which are ftrongeft and uppermoft in one 
mind, others in another. Should it not, therefore, feem a 
very uncertain guide in morals, for a man to follow his 
paffion or inward feeling ? And would not this rule infal- 
libly lead different men different ways, according to the 
prevalency of this or that appetite, or paffion ? 

Alc. — I do not deny it. 

Euph. — And will it not follow from hence, that duty 
and virtue are in a fairer way of being pra&ifed, if men 
are led by reafon and judgment ; balancing low and fen- 
fual pleafures with thofe of a higher kind, comparing pre- 
fent loffes with future gains, and the uneafinefs and dif- 
guft of every vice, with the delightful practice of the 
oppofite virtue, and the pleafing reflexions and hopes 
which attend it ? Or, can there be a ftronger motive to 
virtue, than the fhewing that, confidered in all lights, it 
is every man's true intereft ? 

VI. Alc. — I tell you, Euphranor, we contemn the vir- 
tue of that man, who computes and deliberates, and muft 
have a reafon for being virtuous. The refined moralifts of 
our feci: are ravifhed and tranfported with the abftraft 
beauty of virtue. They difdain all forenfical motives to 
it ; and love virtue only for virtue's fake. Oh rapture ! 
Oh enthufiafm! Oh the quinteflence of beauty ! Methinks 
I could dwell for ever on this contemplation. But rather 
than entertain myfelf, I muft endeavor to convince you. 
Make an experiment on the firft man you meet. Propofe 
a villainous or unjuft action. Take his firft fenfe of the 
matter, and you (hall find he detefts it. He may indeed 



126 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. III.] 

be afterwards mifled by arguments, or overpowered by 
temptation ; but his original, unpremeditated, and genu- 
ine thoughts, are juft and orthodox. How can we account 
for this, but by a moral fenfe, which, left to itfelf, hath as 
quick and true a perception of the beauty and deformity of 
human actions, as the eye hath of colors. 

Euph. — May not this be fufficiently accounted for, by 
conscience, affection, paffion, education, reafon, cuftom, 
religion, which principles and habits, for aught I know, 
may be what you metaphorically call a moral fenfe ? 

Alc — What I call a moral fenfe, is ftri&ly, properly, 
and truly fuch, and, in kind, different from all thofe things 
you enumerate. It is what all men have, though all may 
not obferve it. Upon this, Euphranor fmiled, and faid, 
Alciphron has made difcoveries where I leaft expected it. 
For, faid he, in regard to every other point, I mould hope 
to learn from him j but for the knowledge of myfelf, or 
the faculties and powers of my own mind, I mould have 
looked at home. And there I might have looked long 
enough, without finding this new talent, which even now, 
after being tutored, I cannot comprehend. For Alciphron, 
I mult needs fay, is too fublime and enigmatical upon a 
point, which, of all others, ought to be moft clearly under- 
ftood. I have often heard that your deepeft adepts and 
oldeft profeflbrs in fcience are the obfcureft. Lyftdes is 
young, and fpeaks plain. Would he but favor us with his 
fenfe of this point, it might, perhaps, prove more upon a 
level with my apprehenfion. 

VII. Lyftdes fhook his head, and in a grave and earneft 
manner addrefled the company. Gentlemen, faid he, 
Alciphron ftands upon his own legs. I have no part in 
thefe refined notions he is at prefent engaged to defend. 
If I muft fubdue my pafiions, abftracl:, contemplate, be en- 
amoured of virtue ; in a word, if I muft be an enthufiaft, 
I owe fo much deference to the laws of my country, as 



[Dial. III.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 127 

to choofe being an enthufiaft in their way. Befides, it is 
better being fo for fome end, than for none. This doc- 
trine hath all the folid inconveniencies, without the amu- 
fing hopes and profpecls of the chriftian. 

Alc. — I never counted on Lyficles for my fecond in 
this point ; which, after all, doth not need his afliftance or 
explication. All fubjeds ought not to be treated in the 
fame manner. The way of definition and divificn is dry 
and pedantic. Befides, the fubjecl; is fometimes too ob- 
fcure, fometimes too fimple, for this method. One while we 
know too little of a point, another too much, to make it 
plainer by difcourfe. 

Cri. — To hear Alciphron talk, puts me in mind of that 
ingenious Greek, who having wrapt a man's brother up in 
a cloak, afked him whether he knew that perfon ? being 
ready, either by keeping on, or pulling off the cloak, to 
confute his anfwer, whatever it fhould be. For my part, 
I believe, if matters were fairly ftated, that rational fatif- 
fa&ion, that peace of mind, that inward comfort, and con- 
fcientious joy, which a good chriftian finds in good actions, 
would not be found to fall fhort of all the ecftafy, rapture, 
and enthufiafm fuppofed to bk the effecl: of that high and 
undefcribed principle. In earned, can any ecftafy be 
higher, any rapture more affecting, than that which fprings 
from the love of God and man, from a confeience void of 
offence, and an inward difcharge of duty, with the fe- 
cret delight, truft, and hope that attend it ? 

Alc. — O Euphratwr, we votaries of truth do not envy, 
but pity, the groundlefs joys and miftaken hopes of a 
chriftian. And, as for confeience and rational pleafure, 
how can we allow a confeience, without allowing a vindic- 
tive Providence ? or how can we fuppofe, the charm of 
virtue confifts in any pleafure, or benefit attending virtuous 
actions,* without giving great advantages to the chriftian 

* There can never be lefs felf-enjoyment than in thefe fuppofed wife 
characters, thefe felfifh computers of happinels and private good. Charac- 
terises, Vol. 3. p. 301. 



xa8 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial, in.] 

religion, which, it feems, excites its believers to virtue by 
the higheft interefts and pleafures in reversion. Alas ! 
mould we grant this, there would be a door opened to all 
thofe rufty declaimers upon the neceffity and ufefulnefs of 
the great points of faith, the immortality of the foul, a fu- 
ture ftate, rewards and punifhments, and the like exploded 
conceits ; which, according to our fyftem and principles, 
may perhaps produce a low, popular, interefted kind of 
virtue, but mull abfoluteiy deitroy and extinguifh it in the 
fublime and heroic fenfe. 

VIII. Euph. 1 — What you now fay is very intelligible : 
I wim I underftood your main principle as well. 

Alc. — And are you then in earned at a lofs ? Is it pof- 
fible you mould have no notion of beauty, or that, having 
it, you fhould not know it to be amiable, amiable I fay, in 
itfelf, and for itfelf ? 

Euph. — Pray tell me, Alciphron> are all mankind agreed, 
in the notion of a beauteous face ? 

Alc. — Beauty in human kind feems to be of a more 
mixt and various nature : forafmuch as the paflions, fenti- 
ments, and qualities of the foul being feen through! and 
blending with the features, work differently on differ- 
ent minds, as the fympathy is more or lefs. But, with 
regard to other things, is there no fteady principle of beau- 
ty ? Is there upon earth, a human mind, without the idea 
of order, harmony, and proportion ? 

Euph. — O Alciphron^ it is my weaknefs, that I am apt 
to be loft in abftracHons and generalities, but a particular 
thing is better fuited to my faculties. I find it cafy to 
confider and keep in view the objects of fenfe ; let us 
therefore try to difcover what their beauty is, or wherein 
it confifts j and fo, by the help of thefe fenfible things, as a 
fcale or ladder, afcend to moral and intellectual beauty. 
Be pleafed then to inform me, what it is we call beauty in 
the objects of fenfe ? 



[Dial. III.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. I2 j 

Alc — Every one knows beauty is that which pleafes. 

Eupk. — There is then beauty in the fmeli of a rofe, 
or the tafte of an apple. 

Alc. — By no means. Beauty is, to fpeak properly, 
perceived only by the eye. 

Euph. — It cannot, therefore, be defined, in general, 
that which pieafeth. 

Alc — I grant it cannot. 

Euph. — How then fhall we limit or define it ? Aid- 
phroriy after a fhort paufe, faid, that beauty confided in 
a certain fymmetry, or proportion, pleafing to the eye. 

Euph. — Is this proportion one and the fame in all 
things, or is it different in different kinds of things ? 

Alc — Different, doubtlefs. The proportions of an 
ox would not be beautiful in an horfe. And we obferve, 
alfo in things inanimate, that the beauty of a table, a 
chair, a door, confilts in different proportions. 

Euph. — Doth not this proportion imply the relation of 
one thing to another ? 

Alc — It doth. 

Euph. — And are not thefe relations founded in fize 
and fhape ? 

Alc — They are. 

Euph. — And, to make the proportions juft, muft not 
thefe mutual relations of fize and fhape, in the parts, be 
fuch, as fhall make the whole complete and perfect in its 
kind ? 

Alc — -I grant they muft. 

Euph. — Is not a thing faid to be perfect in its kind, 
when it anfwers the end for which it was made ? 

Alc — It is. 

Euph. — The parts, therefore, in true proportions, 
muft be fo related, and adjufted to one another, as that 
they may beft confpire to the ufe and operation of the 
whole. 

Alc — It feems fo. 

R 



i 3 o MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. III.] 

Euph. — But the comparing parts one with another, the 
confidering them as belonging to one whole, and the re- 
fering this whole to its ufe and end, mould feem the 
work of reafon : mould it not ? 

Alc — It mould. 

Euph. — Proportions, therefore, are not, ftriclly fpeak- 
ing, perceived by the fenfe of fight, but only by reafon, 
through the medium of fight. 

Alc. — This I grant. 

Euph.-— Confequently beauty, in your fenfe of it, is 
an obje£t, not of the eye, but of the mind. 

Alc. — It is. 

Euph. — The eye, therefore, alone, cannot fee that a 
chair is handfome, or a door well proportioned. 

Alc — It feems to follow *, but I am not clear as to 
this point. 

Euph.— -Let us fee, if there be any difficulty in it. — 
Could the chair you fit on, think you, be reckoned well 
proportioned, or handfome, if it had not fuch a height, 
breadth, widenefs, and was not {o far reclined, as to af- 
ford a convenient feat ? 

Alc. — It could not. 

Euph. — The beauty, therefore, or fymmetry of a 
chair, cannot be apprehended, but by knowing its ufe, and 
comparing its figure with that ufe, which cannot be done 
by the eye alone, but is the effecl: of judgment. It is, 
therefore, one thing to fee an object, and another to 
difcern its beauty. 

Alc. — I admit this to be true. 

IX. Euph. — The architects judge a door to be of a 
beautiful proportion, when its height is double of the 
breadth. But if you mould invert a well proportioned 
door, making its breadth become the height, and its height 
the breadth, the figure would ftill be the fame, but with- 
out that beauty in one fituation, which it had in another. 



[Dial. III.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 131 

What can be the caufe of this, but that in the foremention- 
ed fuppofkron, the door would not yield a convenient en- 
trance to creatures of a human figure ? But, if in any- 
other part of the univerfe, there mould be fuppofed ra- 
tional animals of an inverted ftature, they muft be fuppo- 
fed to invert the rule for proportion of doors : and to 
them that would appear beautiful, which, to us, was 
difagreeable. 

Alc- — Againft this, I have no objection. 

Euro. — Tell me, Alciphron, is there not fomething 
truly decent and beautiful in drefs ? 

Alc. — Doubtlefs, there is. 

Euph. — Are any likelier to give us an idea of this 
beauty in drefs, than painters and fculptors, whofe pro- 
per bufinefs and ftudy it is, to aim at graceful represent- 
ations ? 

Alc. — I believe not. 

Euph. — Let us then examine the draperies of the 
great mailers m thefe arts : How, for inftance, they ufe 
to clothe a matron, or a man of rank. Call an eye on 
thofe figures (faid he, pointing to fome prints after Ra- 
phael and Guidoy that hung upon the wall) what appear- 
ance, do you think, an Englijh courtier, or magillrate, 
with his Gothic, fuccin£l, plaited garment, and his full- 
bottomed wig ; or one of our ladies in her unnatural drefs, 
pinched, and ftiffened, and enlarged with hoops, and 
whale-bone, and buckram, mull make ; among thole fi- 
gures fo decently clad in draperies, that fall into fuch a 
variety of natural, eafy, and ample folds \ that cover the 
body without incumbering it, and adorn without altering 
the fhape ? 

Alc. — Truly, I think they mull make a very ridicu- 
lous appearance. 

Euph. — And what do you think this proceeds from ? 
Whence is it, that the eaflern nations, the Greeks and the 
Romans, naturally run into the moll becoming drefles ; 



i 3 2 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. III.] 

while our Gothic gentry, after fo many centuries racking 
their inventions, mending, and altering, and improving, 
and whirling about in perpetual rotation of faftiions, have 
never yet had the |uck to (tumble on any that was not ab- 
furd and ridiculous ? Is it not from hence, that inflead 
of confulting ufe, reafon, and convenience, they abandon 
themfelves to fancy, the unnatural parent of monfters ? 
Whereas the ancients, confidering the ufe and end of 
drefs, made it fubfervient to the freedom, eafe, and conve- 
nience of the body, and, having no notion of mending or 
changing the natural ihape, they aimed only at fhewing 
it with decency and advantage. And, if this be fo, are 
we not to conclude, that the beauty of drefs depends on 
its fubferviency to certain ends and ufes ? 

Alc. — This appears to be true. 

Euph. This fubordinate, relative nature of beauty, 

perhaps will be yet plainer, if we examine the refpective 
beauties of a hoife and a pillar. VirgW$ defcription of 
the former is, 



— — llli ardna cervix, 

Argutumque caput, brevis alvus, obefaque terga, 
Luxuriatque toris animofum pectus. 

Now I would fain know, whether the perfections and 
ufe s of a horfe may not be reduced to thefe three points, 
courage, ffcrength, and fpeed ? and whether each of the 
beauties enumerated, doth not occafion, or betoken, one 
of thefe perfections ? After the fame manner, if we in- 
quire into the parts and proportions of a beautiful pillar, 
we mail perhaps find them anfwer to this fame idea. Thofe 
who have confidered the theory of architecture, tell us, * 
the proportions of the three Grecian Orders were taken 
from the human body, as the moft beautiful and perfect 

* See the learned patri?rch of Aquileia's Commentary on Vitruvius, I 
4- 1 1. 



[Dial. III.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 133 

production of nature. Hence were derived thofe grace- 
ful ideas of columns, which had a character of ftrength 
without clumfinefs, or of delicacy without weaknefs. — 
Thofe beautiful proportions were, I fay, taken originally 
from nature, which, in her creatures, as hath been already 
obferved, referreth them tofome end, ufe, or defign. The 
Gonfiezza alfo, or fwelling, and the diminution of a pillar, 
is it not in fuch proportion, as to make it appear ltrong 
and light at the fame time ? In the fame manner, muft 
not the whole entablature, with its projections, be fo pro- 
portioned, as to feem great, but not heavy, light, but not 
little : inafmuch as a deviation into either extreme would 
thwart that reafon and ufe of things, wherein their beauty 
is founded, and to which it is fubordinate ? The entabla- 
ture, and all its parts and ornaments, architrave, freeze, 
cornice, triglyphs, metopes, modiglions, and the reft, have 
each an ufe, or appearance of ufe, in giving firmnefs and 
union to the building, in protecting it from the weather, 
and calling off the rain, in reprefenting the ends of beams 
with their intervals, the production of rafters, and fo forth. 
And, if we confider the graceful angels in frontispieces, 
the fpaces between the columns, or the ornaments of their 
capitals ; mail we not find, that their beauty rifeth from 
the appearance of ufe, or the imitation of natural things, 
whofe beauty is originally founded on the fame principle ? 
which is, indeed, the grand diftinclion between Grecian 
and Gothic architecture ; the latter being fantaftical, and, 
for the mod part, founded neither in nature, nor in rea- 
fon, in neceffity nor ufe, the appearance of which, ac- 
counts for all the beauty, grace and ornament, of the 
other. 

Cri. — What Euphra7ior\\i\S\ faid, confirms the opinion, 
I always entertained, that the rules of architecture were 
founded, (as all other arts which flourifhed among the 
Greeks) in truth, and nature, and good fenfe. But the 
ancients, who, from a thorough confideration of the 



i 3 4 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. III.] 

grounds and principles of art, formed their idea of beauty, 
did not always confine themfelves ftri£tly to the fame rules 
and proportions : But, whenever the particular diftance, 
polition, elevation, or dimenfion of the fabric, or its parts, 
feemed to require it, made no fcruple to depart from them, 
without deferting the original principles of beauty, which 
governed whatever deviations they made. This latitude, 
or licence, might not, perhaps, be fafely trufted with moll 
' modern architects, who, in their bold fallies, feem to acl: 
without aim Or defign ; and to be governed by no idea, 
no reafon, or principle of art, but pure caprice, joined with 
a thorough contempt of that noble fimplicity of the an- 
cients, without which there can be no unity, gracefulnefs, 
or grandeur in their works ; which, of confequence, mull 
ferve only to disfigure and dilhonor the nation, being fo 
many monuments to future ages of the opulence and ill 
tafte of the prefent ; which, it is to be feared, would fuc- 
ceed as wretchedly, and make as mad work in other affairs, 
were men to follow, inftead of rules, precepts, and mod- 
els, their own tafte and firft thoughts of beauty. 

Alc. — I mould now, methinks, be glad to fee a little 
more diftin&Iy, the ufe and . tendency of this digreflion 
upon architecture. 

Euph.—- Was not beauty the very thing we inquired 
after ? 

Alc. — It was. 

Euph. — What think you, Alciphron, can the appearance 
of a thing pleafe at this time, and in this place, which 
pleafed two thoufand years ago, and two thoufand miles 
off, without fome real principle of beauty ? 

Alc. — It cannot. 

Euph. — And is not this the cafe with refpecl: to a jufl 
piece of architecture ? 

Alc — No body denies it. 

Euph. — Architecture, the noble offspring of judgment 
and fancy, was gradually formed in the molt polite and 



[Dial. HI.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. i 35 

knowing countries of Afta> Egypt, Greece and Italy. It was 
cherifhed and edeemed by the moft flourifhing dates, and 
mod renowned princes, who, with vad expenfe, improved 
and brought it to perfection. It feems, above all other 
arts, peculiarly converfant about order, proportion, and 
fymmetry. May it not, therefore, be fuppofed, on all ac- 
counts, mod likely to help us to fome rational notion of 
theyV nefcai quoi in beauty ? And, in effect, have we not 
learned from this digreffion, that, as there is no beauty 
without proportion, fo proportions are to be edeemed juft 
and true, only as they are relative to fome certain ufe or 
end, their aptitude and fubordination to which end is, at 
bottom, that which makes them pleafe and charm ? 
Alc — I admit all this to be true. 

X. Euph. — According to this doctrine, I would fain 
know what beauty can be found in a moral fydem, form- 
ed, connecled, and governed by chance, fate, or any other 
blind unthinking principle ? forafmuchas, without thought, 
there can be no end or defign ; and, without an end, there 
can be no ufe ; and, without ufe, there is no aptitude or fit- 
nefs of proportion, from whence beauty fprings. 

Alc. — May we not fuppofe a certain vital principle of 
beauty, order, and harmony, diffufed throughout the world, 
without fuppofing a Providence, infpecting, punifhing, and 
rewarding the moral actions of men ? without fuppofmg 
the immortality of the foul, or a life to come ; in a word, 
without admitting any part of what is commonly called 
faith, worfhip, and religion ? 

Cri. — Either you fuppofe this principle intelligent, or 
not intelligent : If the latter, it is all one with chance, or 
fate, which was jud now agreed againd : If the former, 
let me intreat Alciphron to explain to me, wherein confids 
the beauty of a moral fydem, with a Supreme Intelligence 
at the head of it, which neither protects the innocent, pun- 
iflies the wicked, nor rewards the virtuous ? To fuppofe, 



i 3 6 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. III.] 

indeed, a Society of rational agents, acting under the eye of 
Providence, concurring in one dtfign to promote the com- 
mon benefit of the whole, and conforming their actions to 
the eftabliihed laws and order of the Divine Paternal Wif- 
doin : Wherein each particular agent fhall not . confider 
himfelf apart, but as the member of a great city, whofe 
author and founder is God : In which the civil laws are 
no other, than the rules of virtue, and the duties of reli- 
gion : And where every one's true interefl is combined 
with his duty : to fuppofe this, would be delightful : On 
this fuppofition, a man need be no ftoic or knight-errant, 
to account for his virtue. In fuch a fyftem, vice is mad- 
nef&, cunning is folly, wifdom and virtue are the fame 
thing, where, notwithstanding all the crooked paths and 
by-roads, the wayward appetites and inclinations of men, 
Sovereign reafon is fure to reform whatever feems amifs, 
to reduce that which is devious, make ftraight that which 
is crooked, and, in the laft act, wind up the whole plot, 
according to the exacted rules of wifdom and juftice* In 
fuch a fyftem, or fociety, governed by the wifeft precepts, 
enforced by the higheft rewards and difcouragements, it is 
delightful to confider, how T the regulation of laws, the dis- 
tribution of good and evil, the aim of moral agents, do 
all confpire, in due Subordination, to promote the noble ft 
end, to wit, the complete happinefs, or well-being, of the 
whole. In contemplating the beauty of fuch a moral fyf- 
tem, we may cry out, with the pfalmift, Very excellent things 
are fpohen of thee, though City of God. 

XL In a fyftem of fpirits, Subordinate to the will, and 
under the direction, of the Father of fpirits, governing them 
by laws, and conducting them by methods, Suitable to wife 
and good ends, there will.be great beauty. But in an in- 
coherent fortuitous fyftem, governed by chance, or in a 
blind fyftem, govetned by fate, or in any fyftem where 
Providence doth not prefide, how can beauty be, which can- 



[Dial. III.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 137 

not be without order, which cannot be without defign ? 
when a man is confcious that his will is inwardly conform- 
ed to the divine will, producing order and harmony in the 
univerfe, and conducting the whole by the jufteft methods 
to the beft end : This gives a beautiful idea. But on the 
other hand, a confcioufnefs of virtue overlooked, neglected, 
diftrefied by men, and not regarded or rewarded by God, 
ill-ufed in this world, without hope or profpecl: of being 
better ufed in another, I would fain know, where is the 
pleafure of this reflexion, whej-e is the beauty of this fcene ? 
or, how could any man, in his fenfes, think the fpreading 
fuch notions the way to fpread or propagate virtue in the 
world ? Is it not, I befeech you, an ugly fyftem, in which 
you can fuppofe no law, and prove no duty, wherein men 
thrive by wickednefs, and fuffer by virtue ? Would it not 
be a difagreeable fight to fee an honeft man peeled by (harp- 
ers, to fee virtuous men injured and defpifed, while vice 
triumphed ? An enthufiaft may entertain himfelf with 
vifions, and fine talk, about fuch a fyftem ; but when it 
comes to be confidered by men of cool heads, and clofe 
reafon, I believe they will find no beauty nor perfection 
in it ; nor will it appear, that fuch a moral fyftem can 
poflibly come from the fame hand, or be of a piece with 
the natural, throughout which there fhines fo much order, 
harmony, and proportion. 

Alc. — Your difcourfe ferves to confirm me in my opin- 
ion. You may remember, I declared, that touching this 
beauty of morality in the high fenfe, a man's firft thoughts 
arc beft ; and that, if we pretend to examine, and infpe£t, 
and reafon, we are in danger to lofe fight of it.* That, 
in fact, there is fuch a thing cannot be doubted, when we 
confider that, in thefe days, fome of our philosophers have a 
high fenfe of virtue, without the lead notion of religion, 

* Men's firft thoughts on moral matters are generally better than 
th«ir fecond : their natural notions better than thofe refined by ftudv 
Chara&criftics, Vol. 1. p. 13. 

s 



i 3 8 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. III.] 

a clear proof of the ufefulnefs and efficacy of our prin- 
ciples ! 

XII. Cri. — Not to difpute the virtue of Minute Philo- 
sophers, we may venture to call its caufe in queftion, and 
make a doubt, whether it be an inexplicable enthufiaftic 
notion of moral beauty, or rather, as to me it feems, what 
was already affigned by Euphranor > complexion, cuftom, 
and religious education ? but, allowing what beauty you 
pleafe, to virtue in an irreligious fyftem, it cannot be lefs in 
a religious, unlefs you will fuppofe that her charms dimin- 
ifti, as her dowry increafeth. The truth is, a believer 
hath all the motives from the beauty of virtue, in any fenfe 
whatfoever, that an unbeliever can poffibly have, befides 
other motives, which an unbeliever hath not. Hence it is 
plain, that thofe of your fe&, who have moral virtue, owe 
it not to their peculiar tenets, which ferve only to leflen the 
motives to virtue. Thofe, therefore, who are good, are 
lefs good, and thofe who are bad, are more bad, than they 
would have been, were they believers. 

Euph. — To me it feems, thofe heroic infidel inamora- 
tos of abftra&ed beauty, are much to be pitied, and much 
to be admired. Lyficlesy hearing this, faid, with fome im- 
patience, gentlemen, you mail have my whole thoughts 
upon this point, plain and frank. All that is faid about a 
moral fenfe, or moral beauty, in any fignification, either of 
Alciphron or Euphranor^ or any other, I take to be at bot- 
tom mere bubble and pretence. The kalon and the prepon, 
the beautiful and the decent, are things outward, relative, 
and fuperficial, which have no eflfecl; in the dark, but are 
fpecious topics to difcourfe and expatiate upon, as fome 
formal pretenders of our feci:, though in other points 
very orthodox* are ufed to do. But mould one of them get 
into power, you would find him no fuch fool as Euphranor 
imagines. He would foon fhew he had found out, that the 
love of one's country is a prejudice : That mankind are 



[Dial. HI.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. i 39 

rogues and hypocrites, and that it were folly to facrifice 
one's felf for the fake of fuch : That all regards center in 
this life, and that, as this life is to every man his own life, 
it clearly follows that charity begins at home. Benevo- 
lence to mankind is perhaps pretended, but benevolence to 
himfelf is praclifed by the wife. The livelier fort of our 
philofophers do not fcruple to own thefe maxims ; and as 
for the graver, if they are true to their principles, one may 
guefs what they muft think at bottom. 

Cri.—- Whatever may be the effecl: of pure theory upon 
certain felecl: fpirits, of a peculiar make, or in fome other 
parts of the world ; I do verily think that, in this country, 
of ours, reafon, religion, law, are all together little enough 
to fubdue the outward to the inward man ; and that it 
muft argue a wrong head, and weak judgment, to fuppofe, 
that, without them, men would be enamoured of the golden 
mean. To which my countrymen, perhaps, are lefs incli- 
ned thanf others, there being in the make of an Englifh mind 
a certain gloom and eagernefs, which carries to the fad 
extreme ; religion to fanaticifm ; free-thinking to atheifm ; 
liberty to rebellion : Nor fhould we venture to be govern- 
ed by tafte, even in matters of lefs confequence. The 
beautiful in drefs, furniture, and building, is, as Euphranor 
hath obferved, fomething real and well grounded : And 
yet our Englijh do not find it out ©f themfelves. What 
wretched work do they and other northern people make, 
when they follow their own tafte of beauty, in any of thefe 
particulars, inftead of acquiring the true, which is to be 
got from ancient models and the principles of art, as in the 
cafe of virtue, from great models and meditation, fo far as 
natural means can go ? But in no cafe is it to be hoped, 
that to kalon will be the leading idea of the many, who 
have quick fenfes, ftrong paflions, and grofs intellects. 

XIII. Alc. — The fewer they are, the more ought we 
to efteem, and admire fuch philofophers, whofe fouls arc 
touched, and tranfported, with this fublime idea. 



i 4 o MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial, in.] 

Cri.— -But then one might expect, from fuch philofo- 
phers, fo much good fenfe, and philanthrophy, as to keep 
their tenets to themfelves, and confider their weak breth- 
ren, who are more ftrongly afFe£ted by certain fenfes and no- 
tions of another kind, than that of the beauty of pure dif- 
interefled virtue. Craiylus, a man prejudiced againft the 
chriftian religion, of a crazy conftitution, of a rank above 
mod men's ambition, and a fortune equal to his rank, had 
little capacity for fenfual vices, or temptation to diihoneft 
ones. Cratylus having talked himfelf, or imagined that he 
had talked himfelf, into a ftoical enthufiafm about the 
beauty of virtue, did, under the pretence of making men 
heroically virtuous, endeavor to deftroy the means of ma- 
king them reafonably and humanly fo. A clear inftance, 
that neither birth, nor books, norconverfation, can introduce 
a knowledge of the world into a conceited mind, which 
will ever be its own object, and contemplate mankind in 
its own mirror ! <- 

Alc. — Cratylus was a lover of liberty, and of his coun- 
try, and had a mind to make men incorrupt and virtuous, 
upon the pureft and molt difinterefted principles. 

Cri.— It is true, the main fcope of all his writings (as 
he himfelf tells us) was to aflert the reality of a beauty 
and charm in moral, as well as in natural fubjec~ts : to 
demonftrate a tafte, which he thinks more effectual than 
principle : to recommend morals on the fame foot with 
manners ; and fo to advance philofophy on the very foun- 
dation of what is called agreeable and polite. As for re- 
ligious qualms, the belief of a future ftate of rewards and 
punifhments, and fuch matters, this great man (ticks not 
to declare, that the liberal, polifhed, and refined part of 
mankind, muft needs confider them only as children's tales, 
and amufements of the vulgar. For the fake, therefore, 
of the better fort, he hath, in great goodnefs and wif- 
dom, thought of fomething elfe, to wit, a tafte or relifh : 
this, he azures us, is, at la®, what will influence : fince, 



[Dial. HI.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. i 4 r 

according to him, whoever has any impreffion of gentili- 
ty (as he calls it) or politenefs, is fo acquainted with the 
decorum and grace of things, as to be really tranfported 
with the comtemplation thereof.* His conduct feems jufl: 
as wife, as if a monarch fhould give out, that there was 
neither jail nor executioner in his kingdom, to enforce the 
laws, but that it would be beautiful to obferve them, and 
that, in fo doing, men would tafte the pure delight which 
refults from order and decorum. 

Alc. — After all, is it not true, that certain ancient 
philofophers, of great note, held the fame opinion with 
Cratylusy declaring that he did not come up to the charac- 
ter, or deferve the title of a good man, who pra£tifed 
virtue for the fake of any thing but its own beauty ? 

Cri. — I believe, indeed, that fome of the ancients 
faid fuch things as gave occafion for this opinion. Arif- 
totle\ diftinguimeth between two characters of a good 
man, the one he calleth agathos, or fimply good, the other 
kalos kagathos, from whence the compound term kalokaga- 
thiciy which cannot, perhaps, be rendered by any one 
word in our language. But his fenfe is plainly this : 
agathos he defineth to be, that man to whom the good 
things of nature are good : For, according to him, thofe 
things, which are vulgarly efteemed the greateft goods, 
as riches, honors, power, and bodily perfections, are 
indeed good by nature; but they happen, neverthelefs, 
to be hurtful and bad to fome perfons, Upon the account 
of evil habits : inafmuch as neither a fool, nor an unjufl 
man, nor an intemperate, can be at all the better for the 
ufe of them, any more than a fick man for ufmg the nou- 
rifliment proper for thofe who are in health. But kales 
hagathos is that man, in whom are to be found all things 
worthy, and decent, and laudable, purely as fuch, and 

* See Chara&eriflics, Vol. III. Mifcel- 5. cap. 3. and Mifcel- 3. cap a- 
f Ethic ad Eudemum, lib, 7. cap. ult. 



x 4 2 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. III.] 

for their own fake, and who pra&ifeth virtue from 
no other motive but the fole love of her own innate beauty. 
That philofopher obferves, likewife, that there is a cer- 
tain political habit, fuch as the Spartans, and others had, 
who thought virtue was to be valued and pradUfed on ac- 
count of the natural advantages that attend it. For which 
reafon, he adds, they are indeed good men, but they 
have not the halohagathia, or fupreme confummate virtue. 
From hence it is plain that, according to Arijlotle, a man 
may be a good man, without believing virtue its own re- 
ward, or being only moved to virtue by the fenfe of moral 
beauty. It is alfo plain, that he diftinguifheth the politi- 
cal virtue of nations, which the public is every where 
concerned to maintain, from this fublime and fpeculative 
kind. It might alfo be obferved, that this exalted idea 
did confift with fuppofing a Providence, which infpec~ts 
and rewards the virtues of the beft men. For, faith he 
in another place, # if the gods have any care of human 
affairs, as it appears they have, it mould feem reafonable 
to fuppofe, that they are moil delighted with the mod ex- 
cellent nature, and mod approaching their own, which is 
the mind, and that they will reward thofe who chiefly 
love and cultivate what is moft dear to them. The fame 
philofopher obferves, f that the bulk of mankind are not 
naturally difpofed to be awed by (hame, but by fear : nor 
to abftain from vicious practices, on account of their de- 
formity, but only of the punifhment which attends them. 
And again, % he tells us, that youth, being of itfelf 
averfe from abftinence and fobriety, mould be under the 
reftraint of laws, regulating their education and employ- 
ment, and that the fame difcipline mould be continued 
even after they became men. For which, faith he, we 
want laws, and, in one word, for the whole ordering of 
life : inafmuch as the generality of mankind obey rather 

* Ad Nicom. 1. 10. c. 8- f Ibid. c. 9. £ Ibid. 



[Dial. III.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 143 

force than reafon, and arc influenced rather by penalties, 
than the beauty of virtue ; Zemiais e to kalo. From all 
which it is very plain, what Arijlotle would have thought 
of thofe, who fhould go about to lefTen or deftroy the hopes 
and fears of mankind, in order to make them virtuous on 
this fole principle of the beauty of virtue. 

XIV. Alc. — But, whatever the Stagirite and his peri- 
patetics might think, is it not certain the ftoics maintain- 
ed this doctrine in its higheft fenfe, aflerting the beauty 
of virtue to be all-fufficient j that virtue was her own re- 
ward •, that this alone could make a man happy, in fpite 
of all thofe things which are vulgarly efteemed the greateft. 
woes and miferies of human life ? And all this they held 
at the fame time that they believed the foul of man to be 
of a corporeal nature, and in death difTipated like a flame 
or vapour. 

Cri. — It mult be owned, the ftoics fomctimes talk,, as if 
they believed the mortality of the foul. Seneca, in a letter of 
his to Luci/ius, {peaks much like a Minute Philofopher, in this 
particular. But in feveral other places, he declares himfelf of 
a clear contrary opinion, affirming, that the fouls of men, 
after death, mount aloft into the heavens, look down upon 
earth, entertain themfelves with the theory of celeftial 
bodies, the courfe of nature, and the converfation of wife 
and excellent men, who having lived in diftant ages and 
countries upon earth, make one fociety in the other 
world. It muft alfo be acknowledged, that Marcus A?i- 
toninus fometimes fpeaks of the foul, as perifhing, or dif- 
folving into its elementary parts : But it is to be noted, 
that he diftinguifheth three principles in the compofition 
of human nature, the foma, pfuche, nous, * body, foul, 
mind, or, as he otherwife exprefieth himfelf, far kid, 
pneumatiotiy and egemonihn, flefh fpirit, and governing 
principle. What he calls the pfuche, or foul, containing 

* L. 3. c. 16. 



i 4 4 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial, m.] 

the brutal part of our nature, is indeed reprefented as a 
compound diflbluble, and actually diflblved by death : 
But the nous, or to egemonikon, the mind, or ruling princi- 
ple, he held to be of a pure celeftial nature, theou apospaf- 
ma % a particle of God, which he fends back intire to 
the ftars and the Divinity. Befides, among all his 
magnificent leflbns, and fplendid fentiments, upon the 
force and beauty of virtue, he is pofitive as to the being 
of God, and that not merely as a plaftic nature, or foul 
of the world, but in the ftricl: fenfe of a Providence, in 
fpe&ing and taking care of human affairs. * 

The ftoics, therefore, though their (tile was high, and 
often above truth and nature, yet it cannot be faid, that 
they fo refolved every motive to a virtuous life into the 
fole beauty of virtue, as to endeavor to deftroy the belief 
of the immortality of the foul, and a diftributive Providence. 
After all, allowing the difinterefted ftoics (therein not un- 
like our modern quietifts) to have made virtue its own fole 
reward, in the moll rigid and abfolute fenfe, yet what is 
this to thofe who are no ftoics ? If we adopt the whole 
principles of that feci:, admitting their notions of good and 
evil, their celebrated apathy, and, in one word, fetting up 
for complete ftoics, we may poflibly maintain this doctrine 
with a better grace : at lead, it will be of a piece, and con- 
fident with the whole. But he who (hall borrow this 
fplendid patch from the ftoics, and hope to make a figure 
by inferting it in a piece of modern compofition, feafoned 
with the wit and notions of thefe times, will indeed make 
a figure, but perhaps it may not be, in the eyes of a wife 
man, the figure he intended. 

XV. Though it muft be owned, the prefent age is very 
indulgent to every thing that aims at profane raillery ; 
which is alone fufficient to recommend any fantaftical com- 
pofition to the public. You may behold the tinfel of a 

* Marc, Antonin. !, ». §. II. 



[Dial. III.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 145 

modern author pafs upon this knowing and learned age 
for good writing •, afTe&ed ftrains for wit ; pedantry for 
politenefs ; obfcurities for depths *, ramhjmgs for nights ; 
the moft aukward imitation for original humor ; an,d all 
this upon the fole merit of a little artful profanenefs. 

Alc. — Every one is not alike pleated with writings of 
humor, nor alike capable of them. It is the fine irony of 
an author of quality, ' That certain reverend authors, 
'who can condefcend to lay-wit, are nicely qualified to hit 
f the air of breeding and gentility, and that they will in 

* time, no doubt, refine their manner to the edification of 

* the polite world ; who have been fo long feduced, by 
' the way of raillery, and wit.' The truth is, the various 
tafte of readers, requireth various kinds of writers. Our 
feci hath provided for this, with great judgment. To 
profelyte the graver fort, we have certain profound men at 
reafon and argument. For the coffee-houfes, and popu- 
lace, we have declaimers of a copious vein. Of fuch a 
writer, it is no reproach to fay, jiuit lutukntus ,« he is the 
fitter for his readers. Then, for men of rank and polite- 
nefs, we have the fined, and wittieft Railleurs in the world, 
whofe ridicule, is the lure teft of truth. 

. Euph. — Tell me, AiciphroTi, are thofe ingenious Rail* 
teursy men of knowledge ? 

Alc. — Very knowing. 

Euph. — Do they know, for inflance, the Copernfcan 
fyftem, or the circulation of the blood ? 

Alc. — One would think vou judged of our feci, by your 
country neighbors : There is nobody in town, but knows 
all thofe points. 

Euph. — You believe then, antipodes, mountains in the 
moon, and the motion of the earth. 

Alc— We do. 

Euph. — Suppofe, five or fix cent , a man had 

stained thefe notions . efpr'Us oi 

Englifj court y how do you think they would have been 
received ? 



i 4 6 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. III.] 

Alc. — With great ridicule. 

Euph. — And now it would be ridiculous to ridicule 
them. 

Alc. — It would. 

Euph. — But truth was the fame, then and now. 

Alc— It was. 

Euph. — It mould feem, therefore, that ridicule is no 
fuch fovereign touchftone, and teft of truth, as you gentle- 
men imagine. 

Alc. — One thing we know : Our raillery and farcafms 
gall the black tribe, and that is our comfort. 

Cri. — There is another thing, it might be worth your 
while to know : That men, in a laughing fit, may applaud 
a ridicule, which mall appear contemptible when they 
come to themfelves : Witnefs the ridicule of Socrates by 
the comic poet, the humour and reception it met with, no 
more proving that, than the fame will your's, to be juft, 
when calmly conlidered by men of fenfe. 

Alc — After all, thus much is certain, our ingenious 
men make converts by deriding the principles of religion. 
And, take my word, it is the raoft iiiccefsful and pleafing 
method of conviction. Thefe authors laugh men out of 
their religion, as Horace did out of their vices : Admifli 
circum prxcordia ludunt. But a bigot cannot relifti or find 
out their wit. 

XVI. Cri. Wit without wifdom, if there be fuch a 

thing, is hardly worth finding. And, as for the wifdom 

of thefe men, it is of a kind fo peculiar, one may well fuf- 

pe£t it. Cicero was a man of fenfe, and no bigot, never- 

thelefs he makes Scipw own himfelf much more vigilant 

and vigorous in the race of virtue, from fuppofmg heaven 

the prize.* And he introduceth Cato declaring, he would 

never have undergone thofe virtuous toils for the fervice 

of the public, if he had thought his being was to end with 

this life.f 

* Somn. Scipionis. f De Sene&ute. 



[Dial. III.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 147 

Alc— — I acknowledge Cato, Scipio, and Cicero, were 
very well for their times : But you mult pardon me, if I 
do not think they arrived at the high confummate virtue of 
our modern free-thinkers. 

Euph. — It mould feem then, that virtue flourifheth 
more than ever among us. 

Alc. — It mould. 

Euph. — And this abundant virtue is owing to the 
method taken by your profound writers to recommend it. 

Alc — This I grant. 

Euph. — But you have acknowledged, that the enthufi- 
aflic lovers of virtue are not the many of your feet, but 
only a few fele£t fpirits. To which Alclphrcn making no 
anfwer, Crito addrefled himfelf to Euphranor : To make, 
faid he, a true eftimate of the worth and growth of modern 
virtue, you are not to count the virtuous men, but rather 
to confider the quality of their virtue. Now you rauft 
know, the virtue of thefe refined theorifts is fomething fo 
pure and genuine, that a very little goes far, and, is in 
truth, invaluable. To which that reafonable, interested 
virtue, of the old EngUJh, or Spartan kind, can bear no 
proportion. 

Euph. — Tell me, Alciphron, are there not difeafes of the 
foul, as well as of the body ? 

Alc — Without doubt. 

Euph. — And are not thofe difeafes, vicious habits ? 

Alc — They are. 

Euph. — And, as bodily diflempers are cured by phyfic, 
thofe of the mind are cured by philofophy : are they not ? 

Alc— -I acknowledge it. 

Euph. — It feems, therefore, that philofophy is a medi- 
cine for the foul of man. 

Alc — It is. 

Euph. — How fhall we be able to judge of medicines, 
or know which to prefer ? Is it not from the effects 
wrought by them ? 

Alc — Doubtlefs. 



MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. III.] 

Euph.— - Where an epidemical diftemper rages, fuppofe 
a new phyfician mould condemn the known eftablifhed 
practice, and recommend another method of cure : would 
you not, in proportion as the bills of mortality increafed* 
be tempted to fufpecT this new method, notwithstanding 
all the plaufible difcourfe of its abettors ? 

Alc. — This ferves only to amufe and lead us from the 
'on. 

Cm.— It puts me in mind of my friend, Lnmprccles^ 
who needed but one argument againft infidels. I obferv- 
ed, faid he, that, as infidelity grew, there grew corruption 
of every kind, and new vices. This fimple obfervation, 
on matter of fa£t, v/as fufficient to make him, notwith- 
standing the remonftrance of feveral ingenious men, imbue 
and feafon the minds of his children betimes with the 
principles of religion. The new theories, which our 
acute moderns have endeavored to fubftitute in place of 
religion, have had their fullcourfe in theprefent age, and 
produced their e£Fec?c on the minds and manners of men. 
That men are men, is a fure maxim : But it is as fure, 
that Engujlmien are not the fame men they were : whether 
better or worfe, more or lefs virtuous, I need not fay. 
Every one may fee and judge. Though, indeed, after 
Arijlides had been banifned, and Socrates put to death at 
Athens^ a man, without being a conjurer, migltt guefs what 
the beauty of. virtue could do in England. But there is 
now neither room nor occafion for gueffing. We have 
our own experience to open our eyes 5 which yet if we 
continue to keep fhut, till the remains of religious educa- 
tion are quite worn off from the minds of men ; it is to 
ared we fhall then open them wide, not to avoid, but 
to behold and lament our ruin. 

Alc. — Be the confequences what they will, I can never 
bring myfelf to be of a mind with thole, who meafure truth 
by convenience. Truth is the only that I adore. 

Wherever truth leads- I fhall follow. 



[Dial, in.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 149 

Euph. — You have then a paffion for truth ? 

Alc. — Undoubtedly. 

Euph.— For all truths ? 

Alc. — For all. 

Euph. — To know, or to publifh them ? 

Alc— Both. 

Eupk. — What ! would you undeceive a child that was 
taking plryfic ? would you officioufly fet an enemy right, 
that was making a wrong attack ? would you help an en- 
raged man to his fword ? 

Alc. — In fiich cafes, common fenfe directs one how to 
behave. 

Euph. — Common fenfe, it feems then, muft be confut- 
ed, whether a truth be falutary, or hurtful, fit to be declar- 
ed, or concealed. 

Alc. — How ! you would have me conceal, and ftifie 
the truth, and keep it to myfeif ? Is this what you aim at ? 

Euph. — I only make a plain inference from what you 
grant. As for myfeif, I do not believe your opinions 
true. And, although you do t you mould not, therefore, 
if you would appear confident with yourfelf, think it ne- 
ceflary, or wife, to publifn hurtful truths. "What fervice 
can it do mankind, to 'leflen the motives to virtue, or what 
damage to increafe them ? 

Alc. — None in the world. But I muft needs fay, 
I cannot reconcile the received notions of a God, and 
Providence, to my underftanding, and my nature abhors 
the bafcnefs of conniving at a falfhood. 

Euph. — Shall we,- therefore, appeal to truth, and exam- 
ine the reafons, by which you are withheld from believing 
thefe points ? 

Alc. — With all my heart, but enough for the prefent. 
We will make this the fubjecl: of our next, conference. 



THE 

FOURTH DIALOGUE. 

I. Prejudices concerning a Deity. II. Rules laid down by 
Alciphron, to be obferved in proving a God. III. What 
fort of Proof he expetls. IV. Whence we collecl the Be- 
ing of other Thinking Individuals. V. The fame Method 
a fortiori proves the being of a God. VI. AlciphronV 
fecond Thoughts on this Point. VII. God /peaks to Men. 
VIII. How Diflance is perceived by Sight. IX. The pro- 
per Objetls of Sight at no diflance. X. Lights, Shades, 
and Colours, varioufy combined, form a Language. XI. 
The Signification of this Language learned by Experience. 
XII. God explaineth himfelf to the eyes of Men by the ar- 
bitrary Ufe of fenfble Signs. XIII. The Prejudice and 
Hue fold AfpeEl of a Minute Philofopher. XIV. Godpre- 
fent to Mankind, informs, admoni/hes, and direcls them 
in a fenfble manner. XV. Admirable Nature and Ufe 
of this vifual Language. XVI. Minute Philofopher s 
content to admit a God in certain Senfes. XVII. Opinion 
offome, who hold that Knowledge and Wifdom are not pro- 
perly in God. XVIII. Dangerous Tendency of this No- 
tion. XIX. Its Original. XX. The Senfe of Schoolmen 
upon it. XXI. Scholafic Ufe of the Terms, Analogy and. 
Analogical, explained : Analogical Perfections of God mif- 
underfood. XXII. God intelligent, wife and good, in 
the proper Senfe of the Words. XXIII. ObjeBion from 
moral Evil confidered. XXIV. Men argue from their 
own Defects againfl a Deity. XXV. Religious Wafhip 
reafonable and expedient. 



[Dial. IV.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 151 



L E 



|ARLY the next morning, as I looked out of 
my window, I faw Alciphron walking in the garden, with 
all the figns of a man in deep thought. Upon which I 
went down to him. Alciphron , faid I, this early and 
profound meditation puts me in no fmall fright. How 
fo ! Becaufe I mould be forry to be convinced there was 
no God. The thought of anarchy in nature is to me 
more (hocking than in civil life : inafmuch as natural con- 
cerns are more important than civil, and the bafis of all 
others. I grant, replied Alciphron, that fome inconveni- 
ence may poflibly follow from difproving a God : but, as 
to what you fay of fright and mocking, all that is nothing 
but prejudice, mere prejudice. Men frame an idea, or 
chimera, in their own minds, and then fall down and 
worfhip it. Notions govern mankind : but, of all notions, 
that of God's governing the world, hath taken the deep- 
eft root, and fpread the farthefl : It is therefore, in phi- 
lofophy, an heroical atchievment to difpoflefs this imagi- 
nary monarch of his government, and banifh all thofe 
fears and fpe&res, which the light ©f reafon alone can 
difpel ; 

Non radii foils, non lucida tela diet 
Difcutiunt, fed nature f pedes raticque. * 

My part, faid I, {hall be to ftandby, as I have hither- 
to done, and takes notes of all that pafleth during this 
memorable event : while a Minute Philofopher, not fix foot 
high, attempts to dethrone the Monarch of the univerfe. 
Alas ! replied Alciphron, arguments are not to be mea- 
fured by feet and inches. One man may fee more than 
a million : and a fhort argument, managed by a free- 
thinker, may be fufficient to overthrow the moil gigantic 
chimera. As we were engaged in this difcourfe, Crito 

* Lucretius. 



i$z MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. IV] 

and Euphranor joined us. I find you have been before- 
hand with us to-day, faid Crito to Alciphron, and taken 
the advantage of folitude and early hours, while Euphra- 
nor and I v/ere afleep in our beds. We may, therefore, 
expe£t to fee atheifm placed in its beft light, and fup- 
ported by the ftrongeft arguments. 

II. Alc — The being of a God is a fubjecT: upon which 
there has been a world of common-place, which it is need- 
lefs to repeat. Give me leave, therefore, to lay down certain 
rules and limitations, in order to fhorten our prefent con- 
ference. For, as the end of debating is to perfuade, all 
thofe things which are foreign to this end, fhould be left 
out of our debate. Firft then, let me tell you, I am not 
to be perfuaded by metaphyseal arguments •, fuch, for 
inftance, as are drawn from the idea of an all-perfecl; 
Being, or the abfurdity of an infinite progreflion of cauf- 
es. This fort of arguments I have always found dry and 
jejune : and, as they are not fuited to my way of think- 
ing, they may, perhaps, puzzle, but never will convince 
me. Secondly, I am not to be perfuaded by the autho- 
rity either of paft or prefent ages, of mankind in general, 
or of particular wife men : all which paffeth for little or 
nothing with a man of found argument and free thought. 

Thirdly, all proofs drawn from utility, or convenience, 
are foreign to the purpofe. They may prove, indeed, 
the ufefulnefs of the notion, but not the exiftenee of' the 
thing. Whatever legiflators or ftatefmen may think, 
truth and convenience are very different things to the rig- 
orous eyes of a philofophcr. And now, that I may not 
feem partial, I will limit myfelf, alfo, not to object, in 
the firft place, from any thing that may feem irregular, 
or unaccountable in the works' of nature, againft a caufe 
of infinite power and wifdom : becaufe I already, know 
the anfwer vou would make, to wit, that no one can 
. judge of the fymmetry and ufe of the parts of an in- 



[Dial. IV.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 153 

finite machine, which are all relative to each other, and 
to the whole, without being able to comprehend the en- 
tire machine, or the whole univerfe. And, in the fecond 
place, I (hall engage myfelf not to obje£t againft the jus- 
tice, and providence of a Supreme Being, from the evil 
that befalls good men, and the profperity which is often 
the portion of wicked men in this life : becaufe I know 
that, inftead of admitting this to be an objection againft a 
Deity, you would make it an argument for a future ftate ; 
in which there fhall be fuch a retribution of rewards and 
punifhments, as may vindicate the divine attributes, and 
fet all things right in the end. Now thefe anfwers, 
though they mould be admitted for good ones, are, in truth, 
no proofs of the being of a God, but only folutions of cer- 
tain difficulties which might be objected, fuppofing it al- 
ready proved by proper arguments. Thus much I thought 
fit to premife, in order to fave time and trouble both to 
you, and myfelf. 

Cri. — I think that, as the proper end of our confer- 
ence ought to be fuppofed the difcovery and defence of 
truth, fo truth may be juftified, not only by perfuading its 
adverfaries, but, where that cannot be done, by mewing 
them to be unreafonable. Arguments, therefore, which 
carry light, have their effec~t, even againft an opponent 
who fhuts his eyes, becaufe they (hew him to be obftinate 
and prejudiced. Befides, this diftin£tion between argu- 
ments that puzzle, and that convince, is leaft of all, ob- 
ferved by Minute Philofophers, and need not, therefore^ 
be obferved by others, in their favor. But, perhaps, 
Euphranor may be willing to encounter you on your 
own terms, in which cafe I have nothing farther to fay. 

III. Euph. — Alciphron a&s like a fkilful general, who 
is bent upon gaining the advantage of the ground, and 
alluring the enemy out of their trenches. We, who be- 
lieve a God, are intrenched within tradition, cuftom, au- 

U 



i 5 4 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. IV.] 

thority and law. And neverthelefs, inftead of attempting 
to force us, he propofes that we fhould voluntarily, aban- 
don thefe intrenchments, and make the attack : when we 
may ae~l on the defenfive with much fecurity and eafe, 
leaving him the trouble to difpoflefs us, of what we need 
not refign. Thofe reafons (continued he, addreffing him- 
felf to Alciphron) which you have muttered up in this 
morning's meditation, if they do not weaken, muft eftab- 
lifh our belief of a God : For the utmoft is to be expected 
from fo great a matter in his profeffion, when he fets his 
ftrength to a point. 

Alc. — I hold the confufed notion of a Deity, or fome 
invifible power, to be, of all prejudices, the molt uncon- 
querable. When half a dozen ingenious men are got to- 
gether over a glafs of wine, by a chearful fire, in a room 
well-lighted ; we banilh with eafe all the fpe&res of fancy, 
or education, and are very clear in our decifions. But as 
I was taking a folitary walk before it was broad day-light, 
in yonder grove, methought the point was not quite fo 
clear : nor could I readily recollect the force of thofe ar- 
guments, which ufed to appear fo conclufive at other times. 
I had, I know not, what awe upon my mind, and feemed 
haunted by a fort of panic, which I cannot otherwife ac- 
count for, than by fuppofing it the effe£t of prejudice : 
For you muft know, that I, like the reft of the world, was 
once upon a time, catechifed, and tutored into the belief 
of a God, or Spirit. There is no furer mark of prejudice, 
than the believing a thing without reafon. What neceffity 
then can there be that I mould fet myfelf the difficult talk 
of proving a negative, when it is fufficient to obferve, that 
there is no proof of the affirmative, and that the admit- 
ting it without proof is unreafonable ? prove, therefore, 
your opinion, or, if you cannot, you may indeed remain 
in porTeffion of it, but you will only be poffefled of a pre- 
judice. 

Euph.— O Alciphron I to content you, we muft prove, 



[Dial. IV.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. i 55 

it feems, and we muft prove upon your own terms. But, 
in the firft place, let us fee what fort of proof you expect. 

Alc. — Perhaps I may not expect it, but I will tell you 
what fort of proof I would have : And that is, in fhort, 
fuch proof, as every man of fenfe requires of a matter of 
fa£t, or the exiftence of aciy other particular thing. For 
inftance, fhould a man afk^why I believe there is a king of 
Great Britain P I might anfwer, becaufe I had feen him : 
Or a king of Spain P becaufe I had feen thofe who faw 
him. But as for this king of kings, I neither faw him 
myfelf, nor any one elfe, that ever did fee him. Surely if 
there be fuch a thing as God, it is very ftrange that he 
fhould leave himfelf without a witnefs ; that men fhould 
ftill difpute his being ; and that there fhould be no one 
evident, fenfible, plain proof of it, without recourfe to phi- 
lofophy or metaphyfics. A matter of fact is not to be proved 
by notions, but by fa£ts. This is clear and full to the point. 
You fee what I would be at. Upon thefe principles I 
defy fuperftition. 

Euph.— You believe then, as far as you can fee. 

Alc. — That is my rule of faith. 

Euph. — How ! will you not believe the exiftence of 
things which you hear, unlefs you alfo fee them ? 

Alc — I will not fay fo neither. When I infilled on 
feeing, I would be underftood to mean perceiving in gener- 
al. Outward objects make very different impreflions up- 
on the animal fpirits, all which are comprifed under the 
common name of fenfe. And whatever we can perceive 
by any fenfe we may be fure of. 

IV. Euph. — What ! do you believe then there are fuch 
things as animal fpirits ? 

Alc- — Doubtlefs. 

Euph. — By what fenfe, do you perceive them ? 

Alc. — I do not perceive immediately by any of my fen- 
fes. I am neverthelefs perfuaded of their exiftence, be- 



i$6 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. IV.] 

caufe I can collect it from their effects and operations. 
They are the meffengers, which, running to and fro in 
the nerves, preferve a communication between the foul 
and outward objects. 

Euph.— You admit then, the being of a foul. 

Alc. — Provided I do not admit an immaterial fubftance, 
I fee no inconvenience in admitting there may be fuch a 
thing as a foul. And this may be no more than a thin 
fine texture of fubtile parts, or fpirits, refiding in the 
brain. 

Euph. — I do not afk about its nature. I only aik 
whether you admit that there is a principle of thought and 
action, and whether it be perceivable by fenfe. 

Alc. — I grant that there is fuch a principle, and that 
it is not the object of fenfe itfelf, but inferred from appear- 
ances which are perceived by fenfe. . 

Euph. — If I underftand you rightly, from animal func- 
tions and motions, you infer the exiftence of animal fpirits ; 
and from reafonable acts you infer the exiftence of a rea- 
sonable foul. Is it not fo ? 

Alc — It is. 

Euph. — It fhould feem therefore, that the being of 
things, imperceptible to fenfe, may be collected from ef- 
fects and figns, or fenfible tokens. 

Alc. — It may. 

Euph. — Tell me, Alciphron, is not the foul that which 
makes the principal diftinctio.n between a real perfon and 
a fhadow, a living man and a carcafs ? 

Alc. — -I grant it is. 

Euph. — I cannot, therefore, know that you, for inftance, 
are a diftinct thinking individual, or a living real man, by 
furer, or other figns, than thofe from which it can be infer- 
red that you have a foul. 

Alc — You cannot. 

Euph. — Pray tell me, are not all acts, immediately and 
properly perceived by fer.fe, reducible to motion ? 

Alc — Thev are. 



[Dial. IV.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. i 57 

Euph. — Prom motions therefore, you infer a mover, 
or caufe : And from reafonable motions (or fuch as appear 
calculated for a reafonable end) a rational caufe, foul, or 
fpirit. 

Alc. — Even fo. 

V. Euph. The foul of man actuates but a fmall body, 
an infignificant particle, in refpe£r. of the great mafies of 
nature, the elements, and heavenly bodies, and the fyf- 
tem of the world. And the wifdom that appears in thofe 
motions, which are the effetl: of human reafon, is incom- 
parably lefs than that which difcovers itfelf, in the ftruc- 
ture and ufe of organized natural bodies, animal or veget- 
able. A man, with his hand, can make no machine fo 
admirable as the hand itfelf : Nor can any of thofe mo- 
tions, by which we trace out human reafon, approach 
the fkill and contrivance of thofe wonderful motions of 
the heart, and brain, and other vital parts, which do not 
depend on the will of man. 

Alc. — AIL this is true. 

Euph. — Doth it not follow then, that from natural 
motions, independent of man's will, may be inferred both 
power and wifdom, incomparably greater than that of 
the human foul ? 

Alc. — It fhould feem fo. 

Euph. — Further, is there not, in natural productions 
and effects, a vifible unity of council and defign ? Are 
not the rules affixed and immoveable ? Do not the fame 
laws of motion obtain throughout ? The fame in China 
and here, the fame two thouftind years ago, and at this 
day ? 

Alc — All this I do not deny. 

Euph. — Is there not alfo a connexion, or relation, be- 
tween animals and vegetables ; between both and the 
elements ; between the elements and heavenly bodies ; 
fo that, from their mutual refpe&s, influences, fubordina- 



158 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. IV.] 

tions, and ufes, they may be colle&ed to be parts of 
one whole, confpiring to one and the fame end, and 
fulfilling the fame defign ? 

Alc. — Suppofing all this to be true. 

Euph. — Will it not then follow, that this vaftly great 
or infinite power and wifdom, muft be fuppofed in one 
and the fame agent, fpirit or mind ; and that we have, 
at leaft, as clear, full, and immediate certainty of the 
being of this infinitely wife and powerful , Spirit, as of 
any one human foul whatfoever, befides our own ? 

Alc. — Let me confider : I fufpect we proceed too 
haftily. What ! Do you pretend you can have the fame 
affurance of the being of God, that you can have of mine, 
whom you actually fee (land before you, and talk to you ? 

Euph. — The very fame, if not greater. 

Alc — How do you make this appear ? 

Euph. — By the perfon Alciphron y is meant an indivi- 
dual thinking thing, and not the hair, fkin, or vifible fur- 
face, or any part of the outward form, colour, or ihape 
of Alciphron. 

Alc — This I grant. 

Euph. — And in granting this, you grant that, irua 
ftric~t. fenfe, I do not fee Alciphron> i. e. that individual 
thinking thing, but only fuch vifible figns and tokens, as 
fuggeft and infer the being of that invifible thinking prin- 
ciple, or foul. Even fo, in the felf fame manner, it feems 
tome, that though I cannot, with eyes of flefh, behold 
the invifible God ; yet I do, in the ftri&eft fenfe, behold 
and perceive, by all my fenfes, fuch figns and tokens, fuch 
effe&s and operations, as fuggeft, indicate, and demon* 
ftrate an invifible God, as certainly, and with the fame 
evidence, at leaft, as any other figns, perceived by fenfe, 
do fugged to me the exiftence of your foul, fpirit, or 
thinking principle j which I am convinced of only by a 
few figns or effects, and the motions of one fmali organ- 
ized body : Whereas I do, at all times, and in all places, 



[Dial. IV.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. i S9 

perceive fenfible figns, which evince the being of God. 
The point, therefore, doubted or denied by you at the 
beginning, now feems manifeftly to follow from the pre- 
mifes. Throughout this whole enquiry, have we not 
confidered every ftep with care, and made not the leaft 
advance without clear evidence ? You and I examined 
and affented fingly to each foregoing propofition : What 
{hall we do then with the conclufion ? For my part, if 
you do not help me out, I find myfelf under an abfolute 
necefiity of admitting it for true. You muft, therefore, 
be content, henceforward to bear the blame, if I live and 
die in the belief of a God. 

VI. Alc. — It muft be confeft, I do not readily find 
an anfwer. There feems to be fome foundation for what 
you fay. But, on the other hand, if the point was fo 
clear as you pretend, I cannot conceive how fo many fa- 
gacious men, of our fe£l, mould be fo much in the dark, 
as not to know or believe one fyllable of it. 

Euph. — Ozilciphron> it is not our prefent bufinefs to 
account for the overfights, or vindicate the honor of thofe 
great men, the free-thinkers, when their very exiftencc 
is in danger of being called in queftion. 

Alc. — How fo ? 

Euph. — Be pleafed to recollect the conceflions you 
have made, and then fhe\tf me, if the arguments for a 
Deity be not conclufive, by what better arguments you 
can prove the exiftence of that thinking thing, which in 
ftri&nefs conflitutes the free-thinker. 

As foon as Euphraner had uttered thefe words, Alci- 
phron ftopt fhort, and flood in a pofture of meditation, 
while the reft of us continued our walk, and took two or 
three turns, after which he joined us again with a fmiling 
countenance, like one who had made fome difcovery. I 
have found, faid he, what may clear up the point in dif- 
pute, and give Euphranor entire fatisfaftion ; I would fay 



i6o MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. IV.] 

an argument, which will prove the exiftence of a free- 
thinker, the like whereof cannot be applied to prove the 
exiftence of a God. You muft know then, that your 
notion of our perceiving the exiftence of God, as certain- 
ly and immediately as we do that of a human perfon, I 
could by no means digeft, though I muft own it puzzled 
me, till I had confidered the matter. At firft methought, 
a particular ftru&ure, ihape, or motion, was the mod 
certain proof of a thinking, reafonable foul. But a little 
attention fatisfied me, that thefe things have no necefiary 
connexion with reafon, knowledge, and wifdom. And 
that, allowing them to be certain proofs of a living foul, 
they cannot be fo of a thinking and reafonable one. Up- 
on fecond thoughts, therefore, and a minute examina- 
tion of this point, I have found, that nothing fo much 
convinces me of the exiftence of another perfon as his 
fpeaking to me. It is my hearing you talk, that, in 
Uriel: arid philofophical truth, is to me the beft argument 
for your being. And this is a peculiar argument, inappli- 
cable to your purpofe : For you will not, I fuppofe, pre- 
tend that God fpeaks to man in the fame clear and fenfi- 
ble manner, as one man doth to another. 

VII. Euph. — How ! is then the impreffion of found 
fo much more evident than that of other fenfes ? Or, 
if it be, is the voice of man louder than that of 
thunder ? 

Alc. — Alas ! You miftake the point. What I mean 
is not the found of fpeech, merely as fuch, but the arbi- 
trary ufe of fenfible figns, which have no fimilitude or ne- 
cefTary connexion with the things fignified j fo as by the 
oppofite management of them, to fuggeft and exhibit to 
my mind an endlefs variety of things, differing in nature, 
time, and place j thereby informing me, entertaining me, 
and directing me how to a£t, not only with regard to 
things near and prefent, but alfo, with regard to things 



[Dial. IV.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 161 

diftant and future. No matter whether thefe figns arc 
pronounced or written, whether tVy enter by the eye or 
the ear : They have the fame ufe, and are equally proofs of 
an intelligent, thinking, defigning caufe. 

Euph. — But what if it mould appear that God really 
fpeaks to man ; mould this content you ? 

Alc.— I am for admitting no inward fpeech, no holy 
inftin&s, or fuggeftions of light or fpirit. All that, you 
muft know, pafTeth with men of fenfe for nothing. If 
you do not make it plain to me, that God fpeaks to men, 
by outward fenfible figns, of fuch fort, and in fuch man- 
ner, as I have defined, you do nothing. 

Euph. — But if it fhall appear plainly, that God fpeaks 
to men by the intervention and ufe of arbitrary, outward, 
fenfible figns, having no refemblance or neceflary connex- 
ion with the things they (land for and fuggeft : If it fhall 
appear, that by innumerable combinations of thefe figns, 
an endlefs variety of things is difcovered, and made known 
to us ; and that we are thereby i n fir u died, or informed, 
in their different natures ; that we are taught and admon- 
ifhed what to fhun, and what to purfue ; and are directed 
how to regulate our motions, and how to acl: with refpedt 
to things diftant from us, as well in time as place ; will 
this content you ? 

Alc. — It is the very thing I would have you make out ; 
for therein confifts the force, and ufe, and nature of lan- 
guage. 

VIII. Euph. — Look, A!ciphron> do you not fee the caf- 
tie upon yonder hill ? 

Alc. — I do. 

Euph. — Is it not at a great diftance from you ? 

Alc. — It is. 

Euph. — Tell me, Jlciphroiiy is not diftance. 3 line turn- 
ed end-wife to the eye ? 

Alc. — Doubtlefs. 

W 



i6z MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. IV.] 

EupH. — And can a line, in that fituation, project more 
than one tingle point on the bottom of the eye ? 

Alc. — It cannot. 

Euph. — Therefore the appearance of a long and of a 
fhort diftance, is of the fame magnitude, or rather of no 
magnitude at all, being, in all cafes, one fingle point. 

Alc. — It feems fo. 

Euph. — Should it not follow, from hence, that diftance 
is not immediately perceived by the eye ? 

Alc — It fhould. 

Euph.— Muft it not then be perceived by the media- 
don of fome other thing ? 

Alc. — It muft. 

Euph.— To difcoverwhat this is, let us examine what 
alteration there may be in the appearance of the fame ob- 
ject, placed at different diftances from the eye. Now I 
find, by experience, that, when an object is removed ftill 
farther and farther off, in a direct line from the eye, its 
viiible appearance ftill grows lefier and fainter : And this 
change of appearance, being proportional and univerfal, 
feems to me to be, that by which we apprehend the various 
degrees of diftance. 

Alc. — I have nothing to object to this. 

Euph. — But littlenefs or faintnefs, in their own nature, 
feem to have no necefTary connexion with greater length 
of diftance. 

Alc — I admit this to be true. 

Euph. — Will it not follow then, that they could never 
fuggeft it but from experience ? 

Alc — It will. 

Euph. — That is to fay, we perceive diftance, not im- 
mediately, but by mediation of a fign, which hath no like- 
nefs to it, or necefTary connexion with it, but only fuggefts 
it from repeated experience, as words do things. 

Alc — Hold, Euphranor : Now I think of it, the wri- 
ters in optics tell us of an angle made by the two optic ax- 



[Dial. IV.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. j6 ? 

cs, where they meet in the vifible point or object ; which 
angle, the obtufer it is, the nearer it fhews the object to be, 
and by how much the acuter, by fo much the farther oft -, 
and this from a neceffary demonflrable connexion. 

Euph. — The mind then finds out the diflance of things 
by geometry. 

Alc It doth. 

Euph. — Should it not follow, therefore, that nobody 
could fee, but thofe who had learned geometry, and knew 
fomething of lines and angles ? 

Alc. — There is a fort of natural geometry, which is 
got without learning. 

Euph.— —Pray inform me, Alclphron^ in order to frame 
a proof of any kind, or deduce one point from another, 
is it not necefiary, that I perceive the connexion of the 
terms in the premifes, and the connexion of the premifes 
with the conclufion : And, in general, to know one thing 
by means of another, muft I not firft know that other 
thing ? when I perceive your meaning by your v.*ords, 
muft I not firfl perceive the words themfelves ? and mud 
I not know the premifes, before I infer the conclufion ? 

Alc — All this is true. 

Euph. — Whoever, therefore, collects a nearer diflance 
from a wider angle, or a farther diflance from an acuter 
angle, muft firfl perceive the angles themfelves. And he 
who doth not perceive thofe angles, can infer nothing from 
them. Is it fo or not ? 

Alc — It is as you fay. 

Euph. — Afk now the firfl man you meet, whether he 
perceives or knows any thing of thofe optic angles ? or 
whether he ever thinks about them, or makes any inferen- 
ces from them, either by natural or artificial geometry ? 
What anfwer do you think he would make ? 

Alc — To fpeak the truth, I believe his anfwer would 
that! he knew nothing of thofe matters. 



&*4 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial; IV.] 

Euph. — It cannot therefore be, that men judge of dis- 
tance by angles : Nor consequently can there be any force 
in the argument you drew from thence, to prove that dif- 
tance is perceived by means of fomething which hath a 
r.ecefTary connexion with it. 

Alc. — I agree with you. 

IX. Euph. — To me it feems, that a man may know 
whether he perceives a thing or no : and if he perceives it, 
whether it be immediately, or mediately : and if mediate- 
ly, whether by means of fomething like, or unlike, necef- 
farily, or arbitrarily connected with it. 

Alc. — It feems fo. 

Euph.-— And is it not certain, that diftance is perceived 
only by experience, if it be neither perceived immediately 
by itfelf, nor by means of any image, nor of 2ny lines and 
angles, which are like it, or have a necefiary connexion 
with it ? 

Alc. — It is. 

Euph. — Doth it not feem to follow, from what hath 
been' faid and allowed by you, that before all experience a 
man would not imagine, the things he faw were at any 
diflance from him ? 

Alc— —How ! let me fee. 

Euph. — The littlenefs or faintnefs of appearance, or 
any other idea or fenfation, not necelTarily connected with, 
or rcfembling diflance, can no more fuggeft different de- 
• grees of diftance, or any diflance at all, to the mind, which 
hath not experienced a connexion of the things fignifying 
and fignified, than words can fuggeft notions before a 
man hath learned the language. 

Alc. — I allow this to be true. 

Euph.— Will it not thence follow, that a man born 
blind, and made to fee, would, upon firfl: receiving his 
fight, take the things he faw, not to be at any diftance 
from him. but in his eve, or rather in his mind ? 



[Dial. IV.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. i6 s 

Alc. — I mud own it fcem fo : And yet, on the other 
hand, I can hardly perfuade myfelf, that, if I were in fuch 
a ft ate, I mould think thofe objects, which I now fee at 
fo great a diftance, to be at no diftance at all. 

Euph. — It feems then, that you now think the objects 
of fight are at a diftance from you. 

Alc. — Doubtlefs I do. Can any one queftion but yon- 
der caftle is at a great diftance ? 

Euph. — Tell me, Alciphron, can you difcern the doors, 
windows, and battlements of that fame caftle ? 

Alc. — I cannot. At this diftance it feems only' a 
fmall round tower. 

Euph. — But I, who have been at it, know that it is 
no fmall round tower, but a large fquare building, with 
battlements and turrets, which it feems you do not fee. 

Alc — What will you infer from thence ? 

Euph. — I would infer, that the very object, which 
you ftri&ly and properly perceive by fight, is not that 
thing which is feveral miles diftant. 

Alc— Why fo ? 

Euph. — Becaufe a little round objetl is one thing, and 
a great fquare object is another. , Is it not ? 

Alc — I cannot deny it. 

Euph. — Tell me, is not the vifible appearance alone 
the proper objeel: of fight ? 

Alc — It is. What think you now (faid Euphranor, 
pointing towards the heavens) of the vifible appearance cf 
yonder planet ? Is it not a round luminous flat, not big- 
ger than a fixpence ? 

Alc — What then ? 

Euph. — Tell me then, what you think of the planet 
itfelf. Do you not conceive it to be a vaft opaque globe, 
with feveral unequal rifings and vallies ? 

Alc — I do. 

Euph. — How can you, therefore conclude, that the 
proper objeel: of your fight exifts at a diftance ? 



i66 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. IV.] 

Alc. — I confefs I know not. 

Euph. — For your farther conviction, do but confider 
that crimfon cloud. Think you, that if you were in the 
very place where it is, you would perceive any thing like 
what you now fee ? 

Alc. — By no means. I mould perceive only a dark milt. 

Euph. — Is it not plain, therefore, that neither the 
caftle, the planet, nor the cloud, which you fee here, are 
thofe real ones, which you fuppofe exift at a diftance ? 

X. Alc. — "What am I to think then ? Do we fee any 
thing at all, or is it altogether fancy and illufion ? 

Euph.— Upon the whole, it feems the proper objects 
of fight are light and colours, with their feveral (hades 
and degrees ; all which, being infinitely diverfified and 
combined, form a language wonderfully adapted to fug- 
geft and exhibit to us the diftances, figures, fituations, 
dimenfions, and various qualities of tangible objects : not 
by fimilitude, . nor yet by inference of neceiTary connexion, 
but by the arbitrary impofition of Providence : juft as 
words fuggeft the things fignified by them. 

Alc. — How ! Do we not, ftrictly fpeaking, perceive 
by fight fuch things as trees, houfes, men, rivers, and 
the like ? 

Euph. — We do, indeed, perceive or apprehend thofe 
things by the faculty of fight. But will it follow from 
thence, that they are the proper and immediate objects of 
fight, any more than that all thofe things are the proper 
and immediate objects of hearing, which are fignified by 
the help of words, or founds ? 

Alc — You would have us think then, that light, 
{hades, and colours, varioufly combined, anfwer to the 
feveral articulations of found in language ; and that, by 
means thereof, all forts of objects are fuggefted to the 
mind through the eye, in the fame manner as they are 
fuggefted, by words or founds, through the ear : that is, 



[Dial. IV.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 167 

neither from neceflary deduction to the judgment, nor 
from fimilitude to the fancy, but purely and folely from 
experience, cuftom, and habit. 

Euph. — I would not have you think any thing, more 
than the nature of things obligeth you to think, nor fub- 
mit in the leaft to my judgment, but only to the force of 
truth -, which is an impofition that I fuppofe the freeft 
thinkers will not pretend to be exempt from. 

Alc. — You have led me, it feems, ftep by ftep, till 
I am got I know not where. But I fhall try to get out 
again, if not by the way I came, yet by fome other of 
my own finding. Here Alciphrcn> having made a (hort 
paufe, proceeded as follows : 

XI. Anfwer me, Euphranor, mould it not follow, 
from thefe principles, that a man, born blind, and made 
to fee, would at firft fight not only not perceive their dif- 
tance, but alfo not fo much as know the very things 
themfelves which he faw, for inftance, men or trees ? 
which furely to fupport mult be abfurd. 

Euph. — I grant, in confequence of thofe principles, 
which both you and I have admitted, that fuch a one 
would never think of men, trees, or any other objects 
that he had been accuftomed to perceive by touch, upon 
having his mind filled with new fenfations of light and 
colours, whofe various combinations he doth not yet un- 
derftand, or know the meaning of ; no more than a Chi- 
Hefe t upon firft hearing the words man and tree, would 
think of the things fignified by them. In both cafes, there 
mull be time and experience, by repeated a£ts, to acquire 
a habit of knowing the connexion between the figns and 
things fignified j that is to fay, of underftanding the lan- 
ge, whether of the eyes or of the ears. And I con- 
ceive no abfurdity in this. 

Alc. — I fee, therefore, in ftri£t philofophical truth, 
that rock only in the fame fenfe that I may be faid to hear 
it, when the word reck is pronounced. 



1 63 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. IV.] 

Eu?H. — In the very fame. 

Alc. — How comes it to pafs then, that every one (hall 
fay he fees, for inftance, a rock, or a houfe, when thofe 
things are before his eyes ; but no body will fay, he hears 
a rock, or a houfe, but only the words or founds them- 
felves, by which thofe things are faid to be fignified or 
fuggefted, but not heard ? Befides, if yifion be only a 
language, fpeaking to the eyes, it may be afked, When 
did men learn this language ? To acquire the knowledge 
of fo many figns, as go to the making up a language, is a 
work of fome difficulty. But will any man fay, he hath 
fpent time, or been at pains, to learn this language of 
vifion ? 

Euph. — No wonder, we cannot affign a time beyond 
our remoteft memory. If we have been all pra&ifing this 
language, ever fince our firft entrance into the world ; 
if the Author of nature conftantly fpeaks to the eyes of 
all mankind, even in their earlieft infancy, whenever the 
eyes are open in the light, whether alone or in company ; 
It doth not feem to me at all ftrange, that men mould not 
be aware they had ever learned a language, begun fo ear- 
ly, and pra£Ufed fo conftantly, as this of vifion. And, 
if we alfo confider, that it is the fame throughout the 
whole world, and not, like other languages, differing in 
different places j it will not feem unaccountable, that men 
fhould miftake the connexion between the proper objects 
of fight, and the things fignified by them, to be founded 
in neceffary relation, or likenefs : Or, that they mould 
even take them for the fame things. Hence it feems eafy 
to conceive, why men, who do not think, fhould con- 
found, in this language of vifion, the figns with the things 
fignified, othsrwife than they are wont to do, in the vari- 
ous particular lauguages, formed by the feveral nations 
of men. 

XII. It may be alfo worth while to obferve, that figns 
being little confidered in themfelves, or for their own fake, 



[Dial. IVJ MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. i6 9 

but only in their relative capacity, and for the fake of 
thofe things whereof they are figns, it comes topafs, that 
the mind often overlooks them, fo as to carry its attention 
immediately on to the things fignified. Thus, for exam- 
ple, in reading, we run over the characters with the flight- 
eft regard, and pafs on to the meaning. Hence it is fre- 
quent for men to fay, they fee words, and notions, and 
things, in reading a book : whereas, in ftrictnefs, they fee 
only the characters, which fuggeft words, notions, and 
things. And, by parity of reafon, may we not fuppofe, 
that men, not refting in, but overlooking the immediate 
and proper objects of fight, as in their own nature of fmali 
moment, carry their attention onward to the very thing 
fignified, and talk as if they faw the fecondary objects ? 
which, in truth and ftri£tnefs, are not feen, but only fug- 
gefted and apprehended by means of the proper objects of 
fight, which alone are feen. 

Alc. — To fpeak my mind freely, this differtation grows 
tedious, and runs into points too dry and minute for a 
gentleman's attention. 

I thought, faid Crito, we had been told, the Minute 
Philofophers loved to confider things clofely and minutely. 

Alc— That is true, but in fo polite an age, who would 
be a mere philofopher ? There is a certain fcholaftic accu- 
racy, which ill fuits the freedom and eafe of a well-bred 
man. But, to cut fhort this chicane, I propound it fairly 
to your own confidence, whether you really think that 
God himfelf fpeaks every day, and in every place, to the 
eyes of all men ? 

Euph. — That is really, and in truth, my opinion : and 
it mould be yours too, if you are confident with yourfelf, 
and abide by your own definition of language. Since you 
cannot deny, that the great mover and author of nature 
conftantly explaineth himfelf to the eyes of men, by the 
fenfible intervention of arbitrary figns, which have no fimil- 
itude, or connexion, with the things fignified ; fo as by 

X 



i 7 o MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. IV.] 

compounding and difpofing them, to fuggeft and exhibit 
an endlefs variety of obje&s, differing in nature, time, and 
place, thereby informing and directing men how to act 
with refpecl: to things diftant and future, as well as near 
and prefent. In confequence, I fay, of your own fenti- 
ments and conceflions, you have as much reafon to think, 
the Univerfal Agent, or God, fpeaks to your eyes, as you 
can have for thinking any particular perfon fpeaks to your 
ears. 

Alc. — I cannot help thinking, that fome fallacy runs 
throughout this whole ratiocination, though perhaps I may 
not readily point it out. It feems to me, that every other 
fenfe may as well be deemed a language as that of vilion. 
Smells and tafte, for inftance, are figns that inform us of 
other qualities, to which they have neither likenefs nor 
neceffary connexion. 

Euph. — That they are figns is certain, as alfo that lan- 
guage, and all other figns, agree in the general nature of 
fign, or fo far forth as figns. But it is as certain that all 
figns are not language ; not even all fignificant founds, 
fuch as the natural cries of animals, or the inarticulate 
founds and interjections of men. It is the articulation, 
combination, variety, copioufnefs, extenfive and general 
ufe, and eafy application of figns (all which are commonly 
found in vifion) that conftitute the true nature of language. 
Other fenfes mayindeed furnifh figns ; and yet thofe figns 
have no more right than inarticulate founds to be thought 
a language. 

Alc- — Hold ! let me fee ! In language, the figns are 
arbitrary, are they not ?* 

Eupk* — They are. 

Alc — And confequently, they do not always fuggeft 
real matters of fa 61. Whereas, this natural language, as 
you call it, or thefe vifible figns, do always fuggeft things 
in the fame uniform way, and have the fame conftant reg- 
ular connexion with matters of fact : whence it mould 



[Dial. IV.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 171 

feern, the connexion was neceflary, and therefore, accord- 
ing to the definition premifed, it can be no language. 
How do you folve this objection ? 

Euph. — You may folve it yourfelf, by the help of a 
picture, or looking-glafs. 

Alc. — You are in the right. I fee there is nothing in 
it. I know not what elfe to fay to this opinion more, than 
that it is fo odd and contrary to my way of thinking, that 
I (hall never affent to it. 

XIII. Euph. — Be pleafed to recollecl: your own lec- 
tures upon prejudice, and apply them in the prefent cafe. 
Perhaps they may help you to follow where reafon leads, 
and to fufpe£t notions which are ftrongly riveted, without 
having been ever examined. 

Alc. — I difdain the fufpicion of prejudice. And I do 
not fpeak only for myfelf. I know a club of mod ingen- 
ious men, the freed from prejudice of any men alive, 
who abhor the notion of a God, and I doubt not, would 
be very able to untie this knot. Upon which words of 
Alciphron, I, who had a£ted the part of an indifferent ftan- 
der-by , obferved to him, that it miibecame his character, 
and repeated profeflions, to own an attachment to the 
judgment, or build upon the prefumed abilities of other 
men, how ingenious foever : and that this proceeding 
might encourage his adverfaries to have recourfe to author- 
ity, in which, perhaps, they would find their account more 
than he. 

Oh ! faid CritOy I have often obferved the conduct of 
Minute Philofophers. "When one of them has got a ring 
of difciples round him, his method is to exclaim againft 
prejudice, and recommend thinking and reafoning, giving 
to underffcand that himfelf is a man of deep refearches and 
clofe argument, one who examines impartially, and corv 
cludes warily. The fame man, in other company, if he chance 



• 172 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. IV.] 

to' be pre fled with reafon, fhall laugh at logic, and afiume 
the lazy fupine airs of a fine gentleman, a wit, a railleur, 
to avoid the drincfs of a regular and exa£t inquiry. This 
double face of the Minute Philofopher is of no fmall ufe 
to propagate and maintain his notions. Though to me it 
feems a plain cafe, that if a fine gentleman will fhake off 
authority, and appeal from religion to reafon, unto reafon 
he mud go : And if he cannot go without leading-firings, 
furely he had better be led by the authority of the public, 
than by that of any knot of Minute Philosophers. 

Alc. — Gentlemen, this difcourfe is very irkfome and 
needlefs. For my part, I am a friend to enquiry. I am 
willing reafon mould have its full and free fcope. I build 
on no man's authority. I have no intereft in denying a 
God. Any man may believe, or not believe, a God, as he 
pleafes, for me. But after all, Euphranor mult allow me 
to flare a little at his conclufions. 

Euph. — The conclufions are yours as much as mine, 
for you were led to them by your own conceflions. 

XIV. — You, it feems, flare to find, that God is not far 
from every one of us ; and that in him we live and move 
and have our being. You, who, in the beginning of this 
morning's conference, thought it ftrange, that God fhould 
leave himfelf without a witnefs, do now think it ftrange the 
witnefs fhould be fo full and clear ? 

Alc- — I muft own I do. I was aware, indeed, of a 
certain metaphyficai hypothefis, of our feeing all things in 
God, by the union of the human foul with intelligible fub- 
llance of the Deity, which neither I, nor any one elfe could 
make fenfe of. But I never imagined it could be pretend- 
ed, that we faw God with our flefhly eyes, as plain as we 
fee any human perfon whatfoever, and that he daily fpeaks 
to our fenfes in a manifeft and clear diaJeel:. 

Cri. — As for that metaphyficai hypothefis, I can make 
no more of it than you. But I think it plain, this optic 



[Dial. IV.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 173 

language hath a neceffary connexion with knowledge, wif- 
dom, and goodnefs. It is equivalent to a conftant creation, 
betokening an immediate act of power and providence. It 
cannot be accounted for by mechanical principles, by at- 
oms, attractions, or effluvia. The inftantaneous produc- 
tion and reproduction of fo many figns combined, diflblved, 
tranfpofed, diverfified, and adapted to fuch an endlefs va- 
riety of purpofes, ever fhiftvng with the occafions, and fuit- 
ed to them, being utterly inexplicable and unaccountable 
by the laws of motion, by chance, by fate, or the like blind 
principles, doth fet forth and teftify the immediate opera- 
tion of a Spirit or thinking Being : and not merely of - a 
Spirit, which every motion or gravitation may pofEbly in- 
fer, but of one wife, good, and provident Spirit, who di- 
rects, and rules, and governs the world. Some philofo- 
phers, being convinced of the wifdom and power of the 
Creator, from the make and contrivance of organized bo- 
dies, and orderly fyftem of the world, did neverthelefs im- 
agine, that he left this fyftem, with all its parts and con- 
tents, well adjufted and put in motion, as an artift leaves 
a clock, to go thenceforward, of itfelf, for a certain period. 
But this vifual language proves, not a Creator merely, but 
a provident Governor, actually and intimately prefent, and 
attentive to all our interefts and motions, who watches 
over our conduct, and takes care of our minuteft actions 
and defigns, throughout the whole courfe of our lives, in- 
forming, admonifhing, and directing inceflantly, in a mod 
evident and fenfible manner. This is truly wonderful. 

Euph. — And is it not fo, that men mould be encompaf- 
fed by fuch a wonder, without reflecting on it ? 

XV. Something there is of divine and admirable in 
this language, addrefied to our eyes, that may well awa- 
ken the mind, and deferves its utmoft attention : it is 
learned with fo little pains ; it expretleth the differences 



i 7 4 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. IV.] 

of things fo clearly and aptly ; it inftru&s with fuch fa- 
cility and difpatch, by one glance of the eye conveying a 
greater variety of advices, and a more diftin£t knowledge of 
things, than could be got by a difcourfe of feveral hours. 
And, while it informs, it amufes and entertains the mind, 
with fuch fingular pleafure and delight. It is of fuch ex- 
cellent ufe, in giving a liability and permanency to hu- 
man difcourfe, in recording founds, and bellowing life 
on dead languages, enabling us to converfe with men of 
remote ages and countries. And it anfwers fo appofite 
to the ufes and neceffities of mankind, informing us more 
diftinctly of thofe objects, whofe riearnefs and magni- 
tude qualify them to be of greateft detriment or benefit 
to our bodies, and lefs exactly, in proportion as their 
littlenefs, or diflance, make them of lefs concern to us. 

Alc. — And yet thefe ftrange things affect men but 
little. 

Euph. — But they are not ftrange, they are familiar, 
and that makes them to be overlooked. Things which 
rarely happen flrike j whereas frequency leffens the ad- 
miration of things, though in themfelves ever fo admira- 
ble. Hence a common man, who is not ufed to think 
and make reflexions, would probably be more convinced 
of the being of a God, by one fingle fentence heard once 
in his life from the fky, than by all the experience he has 
had of. this vifual language, contrived with fuch exqui- 
fite (kill, fo conftantly addreffed to his eyes, and fo plain- 
ly declaring the neamefs, wifdom, and providence of 
Him with whom we have to do. 

Alc. — After all, I cannot fatisfy myfelf, how men 
fliould be fo little furprifed, or amazed, about this vifive 
faculty, if it was really of a nature fo furprifing and ama- 
zing. 

Euph. — But let us fuppofe a nation of men blind from 
their infancy, among whom a ftranger arrives, the only 



[Dial. IV.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 175 

man who can fee in all the country : Let us fuppofe this 
ftranger travelling with fome of the natives, and that one 
while he foretells to them, that, in cafe they walk ftrait 
forward, in half an hour they fhall meet men, or cattle, 
or come to a houfe ; that, if they turn to the right, and 
proceed, they fhall, in a few minutes, be in danger of 
falling down a precipice *, that, fhaping their courfe to 
the left, they 'will, in fuch a time, arrive at a river, a 
wood, or a mountain. What think you ? Muft they not 
be infinitely furprifed, that one, who had never been in 
their country before, fhould know it fo much better than 
themfelves ? And would not thofe predictions feem to 
them as unaccountable and incredible, as prophefy to a 
Minute Philofopher ? 

A lc. — I cannot deny it. 

Euph. — But it feems to require intenfe thought, to be 
able to unravel a prejudice that has been fo long forming, 
to get over the vulgar error of ideas common to both 
fenfes, and fo to diftinguifh between the objects of fight 
and touch, which have grown (if I may fo fay) blended 
together in our fancy, as to be able to fuppofe ourfelves 
exactly in the flate, that one of thofe men would be in, 
if he were made to fee. And yet this I believe is poffi- 
ble, and might feem worth the pains of a little thinking, 
efpecially to thofe men whofe proper employment and 
profefiion it is to think, and unravel prejudices, and con- 
fute miftakes. I frankly own I cannot find my way 
out of this maze, and fhould gladly be fet right by thofe 
who fee better than myfelf. 

Cri. — The purfuing this fubjecT: in their own thoughts 
would poflibly open a new fcene to thofe fpeculative gen- 
tlemen of the Minute Philofophy. It puts me in mind of 
a pafiage in the Pfalmift, where he reprefents God to be 
covered with light, as with a garment, and would, me- 
thinks, be no ill comment on that ancient notion of fome 



iy6 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. IVj 

eaftern fages, That God had light for his body, and truth 
for his foul. 

This converfation lafted till a fervant came to tell us 
the tea was ready : upon which we walked in, and found 
Lyficles at the tea-table. 

XVI. As foon as we fat down, I am glad, faid Alci- 
phrotiy that I have here found my fecond, a frefh man, to 
maintain our common caufe, which, I doubt, Lyficles 
will think hath fuffered by his abfence. 

Lys.-~ Why fo ? 

Alc. — I have been drawn into fome concefiions you 
won't like, 

Lys. — Let me know what they are. 

Alc. — Why, that there is fuch a thing as a God, and 
that his exiftence is very certain. 

Lys. — Blefs me ! How came you to entertain fo wild 
a notion ? 

Alc — You know we profefs to follow reafon wherev- 
er it leads. And, in ihort, I have been reafoned into it. 

Lys. — Reafoned ! You mould fay, amufed with words, 
bewildered with fophiftry. 

Euph. — Have you a mind to hear the fame reafoning 
that led Alciphron and me, ftep by ftep, that we may ex- 
amine whether it be fophiflry or no ? 

Lys — As to that, I am very eafy. I guefs all that 
can be faid on that head. It fhall be my bufinefs to help 
my friend out, whatever arguments drew him in. 

Euph. — Will you admit the premifes, and deny the 
conclufions ? 

Lys. What if I admit the conclufion ? 

Euph.— -How ! will you grant there is a God ? 

Lys. — Perhaps I may. 

Euph. — Then we are agreed. 

Lys. — Perhaps not. 



{put. IV.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 177 

Euph. — O Lyftcles ! you are a fubtle adverfary. I 
know not what you would be at. 

Lys. — You muft know then, that, at bottom, the be- 
ing of God is a point, in itfelf, of fmall confequence, and 
a man may make this conceflion without yielding much. 
The great point is, what fenfe the word God is to be ta- 
ken in. The very Epicureans allowed the being of gods, 
but then they were indolent gods, unconcerned with hu- 
man affairs. Hobbes allowed a corporeal god ; and Spino* 
fa held the univerfe to be god. And yet nobody doubts 
they were ftanch free-thinkers. I could wifh, indeed, 
the word god were quite omitted, becaufe, in molt minds, 
it is coupled with a fort of fuperftitious awe, the very 
root of all religion. I (hall not, neverthelefs, be much 
difturbed, though the name be retained, and the being 
of God allowed in any fenfe, but in that of a Mind, which 
knows all things, and beholds human actions, like fome 
judge, or magiftrate, with infinite obfervation and intelli- 
gence. The belief of a God, in this fenfe, fills a man's 
mind with fcruples, lays him under conftraints, and im- 
bitters his very being : But, in another fenfe, it may be 
attended with no great ill confequence. This, I know, 
was the opinion of our great Diagoras, who told me he 
would never have been at the pains to find out a demon- 
stration that there was no God, if the received notion of 
God had been the fame with that of fome fathers and 
fchoolmen. 

Euph. — Pray what was that ? 

XVII. Lys. — You muft know, Diagoras, a man of 
much reading and inquiry, had difcovered, that once upon 
a time the mod profound and fpeculative divines, finding 
it impoflible to reconcile the attributes of God, taken in 
the common fenfe, or in any known fenfe, with human 
reafon, and the appearances of things, taught, that the 

Y 



i 7 8 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. IV.] 

words knowledge, wifdom, goodnefs, and fuch like, when 
fpoken of the Deity, muft be under flood in a quite differ- 
ent fenfe from what they fignify in the vulgar acceptation, 
or from any thing that we can form a notion of, or con- 
ceive. Hence, whatever objections might be made againfl 
the attributes of God, they eafily folved, by denying thofe 
attributes belonged to God, in this or that, or any known 
particular fenfe or notion ; which was the fame thing as 
to deny they belonged to him at all. And thus denying 
the attributes of God, they, in effe£t., denied his being, 
though perhaps they were not aware of it. Suppofe, for 
inftance, a man fhould object that future contingencies 
were inconfiftent with the fore-knowledge of God, becaufe 
it is repugnant, that certain knowledge mould be of an un- 
certain thing : it was a ready and eafy anfwer to fay, that 
this may be true, with refpeft to knowledge, taken in the 
common fenfe, or in any fenfe that we can pofhbly form 
any notion of : but that there would not appear the fame 
inconfiftency, between the contingent nature of things, 
and divine fore knowledge, taken to fignify fomewhat that 
we know nothing of, which, in God, fupplies the place of 
what we underftand by knowledge ; from which it differs 
not in quantity or degree of perfection, but altogether, 
and in kind, as light doth from found ; and even more, 
fmce thefe agree in that they are both fenfations : whereas 
knowledge in God hath no fort of refemblance, or agree- 
ment, with any notion that man can frame of knowledge. 
The like may be faid of all the other attributes, which in- 
deed may, by this means, be equally reconciled with every 
thing, or with nothing. But all men, who think, muft 
needs fee, this is cutting knots, and not untying them. 
For how are things reconciled with the divine attributes, 
when thefe attributes themfelves are, in every intelligible 
fenfe, denied } and confequently the very notion of God 
taken away, and nothing left but the name, without any 



[Dial. IV.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 179 

meaning annexed to it ? In fhort, the belief that there is 
an unknown fubje£fc of attributes, abfolutely unknown, is a 
very innocent doctrine : which the acute Diagoras well 
faw, and was, therefore, wonderfully delighted with this 
fyftem. 

•XVIII. For, faid he, if this could once make its way, 
and obtain in the world, there would be au end of ail nat- 
ural or rational religion, which is the bafis both of the Jew- 
ifh and the chriftian : for he who comes to God, or enters 
himfeif in the church of God, mull firft believe that there 
is a God, in fome intelligible fenfe : and not only that 
there is fomething in general without any proper notion, 
though never fo inadequate, of any of its qualities or attri- 
butes : for this may be fate, or chaos, or piaftic nature, cr 
any thing elfe, as well as God. Nor will it avail to fay, 
there is fomething in this unknown Being analogous to 
knowledge and goodnefs : that is to fay, which produceth 
thofe effe&s, which we could not conceive to be produced 
by men in any degree, without knowledge and goodnefs. 
For this is, in fa£fc, to give up the point in difpute between 
theifts and atheifts, the queftion having always been, not 
whether there was a principle (which point was allowed 
by all philofophers, as well before as fince Anaxagoras) 
but whether this principle was a nous, a thinking, intelligent 
Being : that is to fay, whether that order, and beauty, and 
ufe, vifible in natural effects, could be produced by any 
thing but a mind or intelligence, in the proper fenfe of 
the word ? and whether there mud not be true, real, and 
proper knowledge in the firft caufe ? we will therefore ac- 
knowledge, that all thofe natural effects, which are vulgarly 
afcribed to knowledge and wifdom, proceed from a Being, 
in which there is, properly fpeaking, no knowledge, or 
wifdom at all, but only fomething elfe, which, in reality, 
U the caufe of thofe things which men, for want of know- 



i8o MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. IV.] 

ing better, afcribe to what they call knowledge, and wif- 
dom, and underftanding. You wonder, perhaps, to hear a 
man of pleafure, who diverts himfelf as I do, philofophize 
at this rate. But you fhould confider, that much is to be 
got by converfing with ingenious men, which is a fhort 
way to knowledge, that faves a man the drudgery of read- 
ing and thinking. And now we have granted to you tnat 
there is a God in this indifinite fenfe, I would fain fee 
what ufe you can make of this concefhon. You cannot 
argue from unknown attributes, or which is the fame thing, 
from attributes in an unknown fenfe. You cannot prove, 
that God is to be loved for his goodnefs, or feared for his 
juftice, or refpe&ed for his knowledge : all which confe- 
quences, we own, would follow from thofe attributes ad- 
mitted in an intelligible fenfe. But we deny, that thofe, 
or any other confequences, can be drawn from attributes 
admitted in no particular fenfe, or in a fenfe which none of 
us underftand. Since, therefore, nothing can be inferred 
from fuch an account of God, about confcience, or wor- 
ship, or religion, you may even make the beft of it : and, 
not to be lingular, we will ufe the name too, and fo at 
once there is an end of atheifm. 

Euph.— - This account of a Deity is new to me. I do 
not like it, and therefore Ihall leave it to be maintained by 
thofe who do. 

XIX. Cri.— It is not new to me. I remember, not 
long fince, to have heard a Minute Philofopher triumph 
Upon this very point ; which put me on enquring what 
foundation there was for it, in the fathers, or fchoolmen. 
And, for ought that I can find, it owes it original to thofe 
writings, which have been publifhed under the name of 
Dionyfius the Arecpagite. The author of which, it muft 
be owned, hath written upon the Divine Attributes in a 
very lingular ftile. In his treat ife of the Celeftial Hierar- 
chy, * he faith, that God is feme thing above all eflence 
* De Kierarch CeeleiL c. a. 



[Dial. IV.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. . .;gi 

and life, uper pafan oufian kai zocn : and again, in his trea- 
tife of the Divine Names, f that he is above all wifdom, 
and underftanding, uper pafan fophian kaifune/in, ineffable 
and innominable, arretos kai dnonumos; the wifdom of 
God he terms an unreafonable, unintelligent, and foolifh 
wifdom ; ton a/ogon kai anoun kai mor an fophian. But the 
reafon he gives, for expreffing himfelf in this ftrange 
manner, is, that the Divine Wifdom is the caufe of -all 
reafon, wifdom, and underftanding, and therein are con- 
tained the treafures of all wifdom and knowledge. He 
calls God uperfophos and uperzos : As if wifdom and life 
were words not worthy to exprefs the Divine Perfections : 
And he adds, that the attributes, unintelligent and unper- 
ceiving, mud be afcribed to the Divinity, not lot elleipfin 
by way of defect, but kath uperochen, by way of eminen- 
cy : which he explains, by our giving the name of dark- 
nefs to light inacceflible. And, notwithftanding the 
harfhnefs of his exprefhons in fome places, he affirms, 
over and over, in others, that God knows all things; 
not that he is beholden to the creatures for his knowledge, 
but by knowing himfelf, from whom they all derive their 
being, and in whom they are contained as in their caufe. 
It was late before thefe writings appear to have been 
known in the world : And, although they obtained credit, 
during the age of the fchoolmen, yet fince critical learn- 
ing hath been cultivated, they have loft that credit, and 
are at this day given up for fpurious, as containing feve- 
ral evident marks of a much later date than the age of Di- 
onyfius. Upon the whole, although this method of grow- 
ing in expreffion, and dwindling in notion, of clearing up 
doubts by nonfenfe, and avoiding difficulties by running into 
affected contradictions, may perhaps proceed from a well- 
meant zeal ; yet it appears not to be according to know- 
ledge, and, inftead of reconciling atheifts to truth, hath, 

f De Norn. Div. c. 7. 



iS* MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. IV.] 

I doubt, a tendency to confirm them in their own per- 
fuafion. It mould feem, therefore, very weak and rafli 
in a chriftian to adopt this harm language of an apocry- 
phal writer, preferably to that of the holy fcriptures. I re- 
member, indeed, to have read of a certain philofopher, who 
lived fome centuries ago, that ufed to fay, if thefe fuppo- 
fed works of Dionyfms had been known to the primitive 
fathers, they would have furnifhed them admirable wea- 
pons againft the heretics, and would have faved a world 
of pains. But the event, fince this difcovery, hath by 
no means confirmed this opinion. It mull be owned, the 
celebrated Picus of Mirandula, among his nine hundred 
conclufions (which that prince, being very young, propo- 
fed to maintain by public difputation at Rome) hath this 
for one •, to wit, that it is more impoper to fay of God, 
he is an intellect, or intelligent Being, than to fay of a 
reafonable foul, that it is an angel : which doctrine, it 
feems, was not relifhed. And Picus y when he comes 
to defend it, fupports himfelf altogether by the example 
and authority of Dionyjius, and in effect explains it away 
into a mere verbal defence, affirming, that neither Diony- 
fius> nor himfelf, ever meant to deprive God of know- 
ledge, or to deny that he knows all things : But that, as 
reafon is of kind peculiar to man, fo, by intellection, he 
underftands a kind of manner of knowing peculiar to an- 
gels : And that the knowledge, which is in God, is more 
above the intellection of angels, than angel is above man. 
He adds that, as his tenet confifts with admitting the 
mod perfect knowledge in God, fo he would by no 
means be underftood to exclude from the Deity intellection 
itfelf, taken in the common or general fenfe, but only 
that peculiar fort of intellection proper to angels, which 
he thinks ought not to be attributed to God, any more 
than human reafon. * Picus, therefore, though he fpeaks 

* Pic. Mirand, in Apolog. p. 155- Ed. Baf. 



[Dial. IV.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 183 

as the apocryphnl Dionyftus> yet, when he explains him- 
felf, it is evident he fpeaks like other men. And although 
the foremen tioned books of the Celeftial Hierarchy, and of 
the Divine Names, being attributed to a faint and martyr 
of the apoftolical age, were refpected by the fchoolmen \ 
yet it is certain they rejected, or foftened, his harfli ex- 
preffions, and explained away, or reduced, his doctrine 
to the received notions taken from Holy Scripture, and 
the light of nature. 

XX. Thomas Aquinas expreffeth his fenfe of this point 
in the following manner. All perfections, faith he, deri- 
ved from God to the creatures, are in a certain higher fenfe, 
or (as the fchoolmen term it) eminently in God. Whene- 
ver, therefore, a name, borrowed from any perfection in the 
creature, is attributed to God, we muft exclude from its 
fignification every thing that belongs to the imperfect man- 
ner, wherein that attribute is found in the creature. 
Whence he concludes, that knowledge in God is not an 
habit, but a pure act.* And again, the fame doctor ob- 
ferves, that our intellect gets its notions of all forts of per- 
fections from the creatures, and that as it apprehends thofe 
perfections, fo it fignifies them by names. Therefore, faith 
he, in attributing thefe names to God, we are to confider 
two things j firft, the perfections themfelves, as goodnefs, 
life, and the like, which are properly in God ; and, fecond- 
ly, the manner which is peculiar to the creature, and can- 
not, ftrictly and properly fpcaking, be faid to agree to the 
Creator.f And although Suarez, with other fchoolmen, 
teacheth, that the mind of man conceiveth knowledge and 
will to be in God, as faculties or operations, by analogy on- 
ly to created beings •, yet he gives it plainly as his opinion, 
that, when knowledge is faid not to be properly in God, it 
mad be underftood in a fenfe including imperfection, fuch 

* Sum. Theolog. p. i. Quaeft. 14. Art. I. 
f Ibid. Quxft. 13. Art. 3. 



i8 4 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. IV.] 

as difcurfive knowledge, or the like imperfect kind, found 
in the creatures : and that, none of thofe imperfections in" 
the knowledge of men or angels, belonging to knowledge 
as fuch, it will not thence follow, that knowledge, in its 
proper fenfe, may not be attributed to God : And of knowl- 
edge, taken in general, for the clear evident underftanding 
of all truth, he exprefsly affirms, that it is in God, and that 
this was never denied by any philofopher, who believed a 
God.* It was indeed a current opinion in the fchools, 
that even being itfelf mould be attributed analogically to 
God arid the creatures. That is, they held that God, 
the fupreme, independent, felf-originate caufe and fource 
of all beings, muft not be fupofed to exift in the fame fenfe 
with created beings, not that he exifts lefs truly or properly 
than they, but only becaufe he exifts in a more eminent 
and perfedt manner. 

XXI. But to prevent any man's being led, by miftak- 
ing the fcholaftic ufe of the terms analogy and analogical^ 
into an opinion that we cannot frame, in any degree, a 
true and proper notion of attributes, applied by analogy, 
or, in the fchool phrafe, predicated analogically, it may 
not be amifs to inquire into the true fenfe and meaning 
of thofe words. Every one knows, that analogy is a Greek 
word, ufed by mathematicians, to fignify a fimilitude of 
proportions. For inftance, when we obferve that two is 
to fix, as three is to nine, this fimilitude, or equality of 
proportion, is termed analogy. And although propor- 
tion ftricUy fignifies the habitude, or relation, of one 
quantity to another, yet in a loofer and tranflated fenfe, 
it hath been applied to figriify every other habitude : And 
confequently the term, analogy, comes to fignify all fimi- 
litude of relations, ©r habitudes whatfoever. Hence, the 
Schoolmen telf us, there is analogy between intellect and 
* Suarez Difp. Me'taph. Tom. 2. Difp. 30.' Se<5t 15. 



[Dial. IV.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. ig 5 

fight: forafmuch as intellect is to the mind, what fight is 
to the body ? and that he who governs the ftate, is analo- 
gous to him who (tears- a (hip. Hence a prince is analo- 
gically (tiled a pilot, being to the flate as a pilot is to his 
vefiel.* For the farther clearing of this point, it is to be 
obferved, that a two-fold analogy is diftinguifhed by the 
fchoolmen, metaphorical and proper. Of the firft kind 
there are frequent inftances in holy fcripture, attributing 
human parts and paflions to God. When he is reprefent- 
ed as having a finger, an eye, or an ear : when he is faid 
to repent, to be angry, or grieved : every cne fees the an- 
alogy is merely metaphorical. Becaufe thofe parts and 
paflions, taken in the proper (ignification, mult in every 
degree necefTarily, and from the formal nature of the thing, 
include imperfection. When, therefore, it is faid, the fin- 
ger of God appears in this or that event, men of common 
fenfe mean no more, but that it is as truly afcribed to God, 
as the works wrought by human fingers are to man : and 
fo of the reft. But the cafe is different, when wifdom and 
knowledge are attributed to God. Paflions and fenfes, 
as fuch, imply defect : but in knowledge Amply, or as 
fuch, there is no defeat. Knowledge, therefore, in the 
proper formal meaning of the word, may be attributed to 
God proportionably, that is, preferving a proportion to the 
infinite nature of God. We may fay, therefore, that as 
God is infinitely above man, fo is the knowledge of God 
infinitely above the knowledge of man, and this iswhat Caje- 
tan calls Analogia proprie faEla. And after this fame analogy, 
we rnuft underitand all thofe attributes to belong to the Deity, 
which, inthemfelvesfimply, and as fuch, denote perfection. 
We may, therefore, confidently with what hath been premi- 
fed, affirm, that all forts of perfection, which we can con- 
ceive in a finite fpirit, are in God, but without any of that 
allay which is found in the creatures. This doctrine, 
• Vide Cajetau. dc Nona. Analog, c. 3. 

z 



i86 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. IV.] 

therefore, of analogical perfections in God, or our know- 
ing God by analogy, feems very much mifunderftood, and 
mifapplied, by thofe who would infer from thence, that 
we cannot frame any direct or proper notion, though never 
fo inadequate, of knowledge or wifdom, as there are in the 
Deity ; or underfland any more of them, than one born 
blind can of light and colours. 

XXII. And now, gentlemen, it may be expected I 
mould afk your pardon, for having dwelt fo long on a 
point of metaphyfics, and introduced fuch unpoliflied and 
unfaftiionable writers, as the fchoolmen^ into good compa- 
ny : but as Lyficles gave the occafion, I leave him to an- 
fwer for it. , 

Lys.— I never dreamed of this dry diflertation. Buf^ 
if I have been the occafion of difcufling thefe fcholaftic 
points, by my unlucky mentioning the fchoolmen, it was 
my firft fault of the kind, and I promife it (hall be the laft. 
The meddling with crabbed authors of any fort, is none of 
my tafte. I grant, one meets, now and then, with a good 
notion in what we call dry writers, fuch an one, for exam- 
ple, as this I was {peaking of, which I muft own (truck 
my fancy. But then, for thefe, we have fuch as Prodicus, 
or Diagorasy who look into obfolete books, and fave the 
reft of us that trouble. 

Cri. — So you pin your faith upon them. 

Lys. — It is only for fome odd opinions, and matters of 
fa£t, and critical points. Befides, we know the men to 
whom we give credit : they are judicious and honeft, and 
have no end to ferve but truth. And I am confident fome 
author or other has maintained the forementioned notion 
in the fame fenfe as Diagoras related it* 

Cri. — That may be. But it never was a received no- 
tion, and never will, fo long as men believe a God : the 
fame arguments that prove a firft caufe, proving an intelli- 



[Dial. IV.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. i« 7 

gent caufe : intelligent, I fay, in the proper fenfe : wife 
and good, in the true and formal acceptation of the words. 
Otherwife it is evident, that every fyllogifm brought to 
prove thofe attributes, or (which is the fame thing) to prove 
the Being of a God, will be found to confift of four 
terms, and confequently can conclude nothing. But, for 
your part, Alciphron, you have been fully convinced, that 
God is a thinking intelligent Being, in the fame fenfe with 
other fpirits, though not in the fame imperfect manner or 
degree. 

XXIII. Alc — And yet I am not without my fcruples : 
for, with knowledge you infer wifdom, and with wifdom 
goodnefs. Though I cannot fee that it is either wife, or 
good, to enact fuch laws as can never be obeyed. 

Cm. — Doth any one find fault with the exa&nefs of 
geometrical rules, becaufe no one in practice can attain to 
it ? the perfection of a rule is ufeful, even though it is not 
reached. Many may approach what all may fall fhort of. 

Alc— But how is it poflible to conceive God fo good, 
and man fo wicked ? It may, perhaps, with fome colour 
be alledged, that a little foft (hadowing of evils fets off the 
bright and luminous parts of the creation, and fo contri- 
butes to the beauty of the whole piece i but, for blots fo 
large and fo black, it is impoffible to account by that prin- 
ciple. That there mould be fo much vice, and fo little 
virtue upon earth, and that the laws of God's kingdom 
(hould be fo ill obferved by his fubje&s, is what can never 
be reconciled with that furpafTmg wifdom and goodnefs of 
the Supreme Monarch. 

Euph. — Tell me, Alciphron y would you argue that a 
flate was ill adminftred, or judge of the manners of its 
citizens, by the difordcrs committed in the goal or dun- 
geon ? 

Alc— I would not. 






iS8 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. IVJ 

Eupk. — And, for ought we know, this fpot with the few 
finners on it, bears no greater proportion to the univerfe 
of intelligences, than a dungeon doth to a kingdom. It 
feems, we are led not only by revelation, but by common 
fenfe, obferving and inferring from the analogy of vifible 
tilings, to conclude there are innumerable orders of intelli- 
gent beings, more happy and more perfect than man : 
whofe life is but a fpan, and whofe place, this earthly globe, 
is but a point, in refpect of the whole fyftem of God's 
Creation. We are dazzled indeed with the glory and 
grandeur of things here below, becaufe we know no better. 
But I am apt to think, if we knew what it was to be an 
angel for one hour, we mould return to this world, though 
it were to fit on the brighteft throne in it, with vaftly more 
loathing and reluctance, than we would now defcend into 
a loathfome dungeon or fepulchre. 

XXIV. Cri. — To me it feems natural, that fuch a 
weak, paffionate, and fhort-fight creature as man, mould 
be ever liable to fcrupies of one kind or other. But, as 
this fame creature is apt to be over-pofitive in judging, and 
over-hafty in concluding, it falls out, that thefe difficulties 
and fcrupies about God's conduct are made objections to 
his Being. And fo men come to argue from their own 
defects, againft the divine perfections. And, as the views 
and humours of men are different, and often oppofite, you 
may fometimes fee them deduce the fame atheiftical con- 
clufion from contrary premifes. I knew an inftance of 
this in two Minute Phiicfophersof my acquaintance, who 
ufed to argue each from his own temper againft a Provi- 
dence. One of them, a man of a choleric and vindictive 
fpirit, faid he cGuld not believe a Providence : .becruife 
London w&s not f wallowed up or confumed by fire- from 
heaven : the flreets being, as he faid, full of people, who 
fhew no other belief or worfhip of God, but perpetually 



[Dial. IV.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. ** 9 

praying that he would damn, rot, fink, and confound them. 
The other, being of an indolent and eafy temper, concluded 
there could be no fuch thing as a Providence : for that a 
Being of consummate wifdom muil needs employ himfelf 
better, than in minding the prayers, and actions, and little 
interefts of mankind. 

Alc — After all, if God have no paflions, how can it be 
true that vengeance is his ? or how can he be faid to be 
jealous of his glory ? 

Cri. — We believe that God executes vengeance with- 
out revenge, and is jealous without weaknefs, juft as the 
mind of man fees without eyes, and apprehends without 
hands. 

XXV. Alc. — To put a period to this difcourfe, we 
will grant, there is a God in this difpaffionate fenfe : but 
what then ? What hath this to do with religion or divine 
worfhip ? To what purpofe are all thefe prayers and prai- 
fes, and thankfgivings, and finging of pfalms, which the 
foolifh vulgar call ferving God ? What fenfe, or ufe, or 
end is there in all thefe things ? 

Cri. — We worfhip God, we praife and pray to him, 
not becaufe we think that he is proud of our worfhip, or 
fond of our praife or prayers, and affected with them as 
mankind are : or that all our fervice can contribute in the 
leaft degree to his happinefs or good : but becaufe it is 
good for us, to be fo difpofed towards God : becaufe it is 
juft and right, and fuitable to the nature of things, and 
becoming the relation we ftand in to our Supreme Lord 
and Governor. 

Alc. — If it be good for us to worfhip God, it mould 
feem that the chriftian religion, which pretends to teach 
men the knowledge and worfhip of God, was of fome ufe 
and benefit to mankind. ' 

Cri, — Doubtlefs. 



ioe> MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. IV.] 

Alc. — If this can be made appear, I fliall own myfelf 
very much miftaken. 

Cri.— It is now near dinner-time. Wherefore, if you 
pleafe, we will put an end to this converfation for the pre- 
fent, and to-morrow morning refume our fubje&s 



>C»<>C>c:<>':::><:'<>c>":>::>::>o<>o<:^ >o< 

THE 

FIFTH DIALOGUE. 

I. Minute Philofophers join in the Cry, and follow the Scent 
of others. II. Worjhip prefcribed by the Chriflian Religi- 
on fuitable to God and Man. III. Power and Influence 
of the Druids. IV. Excellency and Ufefulnefs of the 
Chriflian Religion. V. It ennobles Mankind, and makes 
them happy. VI. Religion neither Bigotry nor Superfli- 
tion. VII. Phyficians and Phyfic for the Soul. VIII. 
Characler of the Clergy. IX. Natural Religion and Hu- 
man Reafon not to be difparaged. X. Tendency and Ufe 
of the Gentile Religion. XL Good Effecls of Chrifliani- 
ty, XII. Englifhmen compared with ancient Greeks 
and Romans. XIII. The modem Practice of Duelling. 

XIV. Characler of the old Romans, how to be formed. 

XV. Genuine Fruits of the Gofpel. XVI. Wars and 
Factions not an effect of the Chriflian Religion. XVII. 
Civil Rage and Maffacres in Greece and Rome. XVIII. 
Virtue of ancient Greeks. XIX. Quarrels of Polemical 
Divines. XX. Tyranny, Ufur potion, Sophiflry of Ec- 
cleflaflics. XXI. The Univerflties cenfured. XXII. Di- 
vine Writings of a certain modern Critic. XXIII. Learn- 
ing the Effect of Religion. XXIV. Barbarifm of the 
Schools. XXV. Refloration of Learning and polite Arts, 
to whom owing. XXVI. Prejudice and Ingratitude of 
Minute Philofophers. XXVII. Their Pretenflons and 
Conduit inconflflent. XXVIII. Men and Brutes compar- 
ed with refpect to Religion. XXIX. Chriflianity the only 
Means to eflablijh Natural Religion. XXX. Free-think- 
ers miflake their Talents ; have a flrong Imagination. 
XXXI. Tithes and Church-lands. XXXII. Men diflin- 
gui/hedfrom Human Creatures. XXXIII. Diflribution 



[Dial. V.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 193 

of Mankind into Birds, Beajls, and FiJJjes. XXXIV. 

Plea for Reafon allowed, but Unfair nefs Taxed. XXXV. 

Freedom a Bleffing or Curfe, as it is ufed* XXXVI. 
Priejlcraft not the reigning EviL 



l W> 



E amufed ourfelves next day, every one to 
his fancy, till nine of the clock, when word was brought 
that the tea-table was (et in the library : which is a gallery 
on the ground floor, with an arched door at one end, 
opening into a walk of limes ; where, as foon as we had 
drank tea, we were tempted by fine weather to take a 
walk, which led us to a fmall mount, of eafy afcent, on 
the top whereof we found a feat under a fpreading tree. 
Here we had a profpe£t, on one hand, of a narrow bay, 
or creek, of the fea, inclofed on either fide by a coaft 
beautified with rocks and woods, and green banks and 
farm-houfes. At the end of the bay was a fmall town, 
placed upon the flope of a hill, which, from the advantage 
of its fituation, made a confiderable figure. Several fifh- 
ing boats and lighters, gliding up and down on a furface as 
fmooth and bright as glafs, enlivened the profpe6t. On 
the other hand, we looked down on green paftures, flocks, 
and herds, balking beneath in fun-mine, while we, in 
our fuperior fituation, enjoyed the frefhnefs of air and 
fhade. Here we felt that fort of joyful inftincl:, which a 
rural fcene and fine weather infpire ; and propofed no 
fmall pleafure, in refuming and continuing our conference, 
without interruption, till dinner : But we had hardly 
feated. ourfelves, and looked about us, when we faw a 
fox run by the foot of our mount into an adjacent thicket. 
A few minutes after, we heard a confufed noife of the 
opening of hounds, the winding of horns, and the roar 
ing of country fquires, While our attention was fuf- 
pended by this event, a fervant came running out of 

A .1 



i 9 4 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. V.] 

breath, and told Crito, that his neighbor, Ctefippus, a 
fquirc of note, was fallen from his horfe attempting to 
leap over a hedge, and brought into the hall, where he 
lay for dead. Upon which we all rofe, and walked haf- 
tily to the houfe,' where we found Ctefippus juft come to 
himfelf,. in the midft of half a dozen fun-burnt fquires, 
in frocks and fhort wigs, and jockey-boots. Being afked 
how he did, he anfwered, it was only a broken rib.—. 
With fome difficulty Crito perfuaded him to lie on a bed 
till the chirurgeon came. Thefe fox-hunters having been 
up early at their fport, were eager for dinner, which was 
accordingly haftened. They paifed the afternoon in a 
loud ruftic mirth, gave proof of their religion and loyalty 
by the healths they drank, talked of hounds and horfes, 
and elections, and country affairs, till the chirurgeon, 
who had been employed about Ctefippus , defired he might 
be put into Crito 's coach, and fent home, having refufed 
to ftay all night. Our guefts being gone, we repofed 
ourfelves after the fatigue of this tumultuous vifit, and 
next morning aflembled again at tht feat of the mount. 
Now Lyfcles, being a nice man, and a bel efprit, had an 
infinite contempt for the rough manners and converfation 
of fox-hunters, and could not reflecl: with patience that 
he had loft, as he called it, fo many hours in their com- 
pany. I flattered myfelf, faid he, that there had been none 
of this fpecies remaining among us •, Strange that men 
mould be diverted with fuch uncouth noife and hurry, or 
find pleafure in the fociety of dogs and horfes ! How 
much more elegant are the diverfions of the town ! There 
leems, replied Euphranor, to be fome refemblance between 
fox-hunters and free-thinkers ; the former exerting their 
animal faculties in purfuit of game, as you gentlemen em- 
ploy your intellectuals in the purfuit of truth. The kind 
of amufement is the fame, although the object be dif- 
erent. 



[Dial. V.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. i 9S 

Lts.-^I had rather be compared' to any brute upon earth 
than a rational brute. 

Cri. — You would then have been lefs difpleafed with 
my friend Pythocles, whom I have heard compare the com- 
mon fort of Minute Philosophers, not to the hunters, but 
the hounds. For, faid he, you fhall often fee among the 
dogs a loud babler, with a badnofe, lead the unfkilful part 
of the pack ; who join all in his cry, without following 
any fcent of their own, any more than the herd of free- 
thinkers follow their own reafon. 

II. But Pythocles was a blunt man, and mufl never have 
known fuch reafoners among them, as you gentlemen, who 
can fit fo long at an argument, difpute every inch of 
ground, and yet know when to make a reafonable con- 
ceiTion. 

Lys.— I do not know how it came to pafs, but methinks 
Alciphron makes conceflions, for himfelf and me too. For 
my own part, I am not altogether of fuch a yielding tem- 
per : But yet I do not care to be fingular neither. 

Cri. — Truly, Alciphron, when I confider where we are 
got, and how far we are agreed, I conceive it probable we 
may agree altogether in the end. You have granted that 
a life of virtue is upon all accounts eligible, as moft con- 
ducive both to the general and particular good of mankind : 
And you allow, that the beauty of virtue alone is not a fuf- 
ficient motive with mankind to the practice of it This 
led you to acknowledge, that the belief of a God would 
be very ufeful in the world : And that, confequently, you 
ihould be difpofed to admit any reafonable proof of his 
being : Which point hath been proved, and you have ad- 
mitted the proof. If then we admit a Divinity, why not 
divine worfliip ? and if worfliip, why not religion to teach 
this worfliip ? and if a religion, why not the chriftian, if a 
better cannot be afligned, and if it be already eftablilhed 



"i 9 6 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. V> j 

by the laws of our country, and Landed down to us from 
our Fore-fathers ? fhall we believe a God, and not pray to 
him for future benefits, nor thank him for the paft ? nei- 
ther truft in his protection, nor love his goodnefs, nor praife 
his wifdom, nor adore his power ? And if thefe things are 
to be done, can we do them in a way more fuitable to the 
dignity of God or man, than is prefcribed by the chriftian 
religion ? 

Alc. — I am not perhaps altogether fure that religion 
mud be absolutely bad for the public : But I cannot bear 
to fee policy and religion walk hand in hand : I do not 
like to fee human rights attached to the divine : I am for 
no Pontifex Maximus, fuch as in ancient or in modern 
Rome : No high pried, as in Judea : No royal prieft, as in 
Egypt and Sparta : No fuch things as the Dairos of Japan 
or Lamas of Tar tar y. 

III. I knew a little witty gentleman of our feci, who 
was a great admirer of the ancient Druids. He had a 
moral antipathy to the prefent eftablifhed religion, but 
ufed to fay, he fhould like well to fee the Druids and their 
religion reftored, as it anciently flourifhed in Gaul and 
Britain ; for it would be right enough that there mould 
be a number of contemplative men fet apart to preferve a 
knowledge of arts and fciences, to educate youth, and 
teach men the immortality of the foul, and the moral vir- 
tues. Such, faid he, were the Druids of old, and I fhould 
be glad to fee them once more eftablifhed among us. 

Cri.~ -How would you like, Alciphron, that priefts 
(hould have power to decide all controverfies, adjudge 
property, diftribute rewards and punifhments ; that all 
who did not acquiefce in their decrees fhould be excommu- 
nicated, held in abhorrence, excluded from all honours 
and privileges, and deprived of the common benefit of the 
laws; and that, now and then, a number of l^y-men 



[Dial. VJ MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. i 97 

fhould be crammed together in a wicker-idol, and burnt 
for an offering to their Pagan Gods ? How fhould you like 
living under fuch priefts and fuch a religion ? 

Alc. — Not at all. Such a fituation would by no means 
agree with free-thinkers. 

Cri. — And yet fuch were the Druids, and fuch their 
religion, if we may truft Cafars account of them.* 

Lys. — I am now convinced more than ever, that there 
ought to be no fuch thing as an eftablifhed religion of any 
kind. Certainly all the nations of the world have been 
hitherto out of their wits. Even the Athenians themfelves, 
the wifeft and freed people upon earth, had, I know not 
what, foolifh attachment to their eftablifhed church. 
They offered, it feems, a talent as a reward to whoever 
fhould kill Diagoras, the Melian, a free-thinker of thofe 
times, who derided their myfteries : And Protagoras, ano- 
ther of the fame turn, narrowly efcaped being put to death, 
for having wrote fomething that feemed to contradict 
their received notions of the Gods. Such was the treat- 
ment our generous feci: met with at Athens. And I make 
no doubt, but thefe Druids would have facrificed many a 
holocauft of free-thinkers. I would not give a fingle far- 
thing to exchange one religion for another. Away with 
all together, root and branch, or you had as good do no- 
thing. No Druids or priefts, of any fort, for me : I fee 
no occafion for any of them. 

IV. Euph. — What Lyficles faith, puts me in mind of 
the clofe of our laft conference, wherein it was agreed in 
the following, to refume the point we were then entered 
upon : to wit, the ufe or benefit of the chriftian religion, 
which Alciphron expected Crito fhould make appear. 

Cri. — I am the readier to undertake this point, becaufe 
I conceive it to be no difficult one, and that one great mark 

* Dc Bello Gallico, 1. 6. 



i 9 8 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. V ] 

of the truth of chriftianity is, in my mind, its tendency to 
do good, which feems the north-ftar to conduct our judg- 
ment in moral matters, and in all things of a pra£Hc na- 
ture ; moral or practical truths being ever connected with 
univerfal benefit. But to judge rightly of this matter, we 
mould endeavour to ac"fc like Lyficles upon another occafion, 
taking into our view the fum of things, and considering 
principles as branched forth into confequences to the ut- 
moft extent we are able. We are not fo much to regard 
the humour, or caprice, or imaginary diftreffes, of a few ' 
idle men, whofe conceit may be offended, though their 
confcience cannot be wounded ; but fairly to confider the 
true intereft of individuals, as well as of human fociety. 
Now, the chriftian religion, confidered as a fountain of light, 
and joy, and peace, as a fource of faith, and hope, and char- 
ity, (and that it is fo, will be evident to whoever takes his 
notion of it from the gofpel) muft needs be a principle of 
happinefs and virtue. And he who fees not, that the de- 
ftroying the principles of good actions muft deftroy good 
a£lions, fees nothing : And he who, feeing this, (hall yet 
perfift to do it, if he be not wicked, who is ? 

V. To me it feems, the man can fee neither deep nor 
far, who is not fenfible of his own mifery, (infulnefs and 
dependence ; who doth not perceive, that this prefent 
world is not defigned or adapted to make rational fouls 
happy ; who would not be glad of getting into a better 
ft ate ; and who would not be overjoyed to find that the 
road leading thither, was the love of God and man, the 
pra&ifing every virtue, the living reafonably while we are 
here upon earth, proportioning our efteem to the value 
of things, and fo ufing this world as not to abufe it. For 
this is what chriftianity requires. It neither injoins the 
naftinefs of the cynic, nor the infenfibility of the ftoic 
Can there be a higher ambition than to overcome the world, 



[Dial. V.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. i 99 

or a wifer, than to fubdue ourfelves, or a more comfort- 
able doctrine, than the remiffion of fins, or a more joy- 
ful profpecl:, than that of having our bafe natures renew- 
ed and aflimilated to the Deity, our being made fellow- 
citizens with angels and fons of God ? Did ever Pytha- 
goreans, or Platoniflsy or Stoics, even in idea or in wifh, 
propofe to the" mind of man purer means, or a nobler 
end ? How great a fhare of our happinefs depends upon 
hope ! How totally is this extinguiflied by the Minute 
> Philofophy ! On the other hand, how is it cherifhed and 
raifed by the gofpel ! Let any man, who thinks in ear- 
neft, but confider thefe things, and then fay, which he 
thinks deferveth beft of mankind, he who recommends, 
or he who runs down chriftianity ? Which he thinks like- 
lier to lead a happy life, to be a hopeful fon, an honeft 
dealer, a worthy patriot, he who fincerely believes the 
gofpel, or he who believes not one tittle of it ? He who 
aims at being a child of God, or he who is contented to 
be thought, and to be, one of Epicurus's hogs ? And, in 
fact, do but fcan the characters, and obferve the beha- 
vior of the common fort of men on both fides ; obferve, 
and fay which live moft agreeably to the dictates of rea- 
fon ? How things fliould be, the reafon is plain ; how 
they are, I appeal to fa£t. 

VI. Alc — It is wonderful to obferve how things 
change appearance, as they are viewed in different lights, 
or by different eyes. The picture, Crito, that I form of 
religion is very unlike yours, when I confider how it un- 
mans the foul, filling it with abfurd reveries, and flavifh 
fears : how it extinguishes the gentle pafiions, infpiring a 
ipirit of malice, and rage, and perfecution : When I 
behold bitter retentments and unholy wrath in thofe 
very men, who preach up meeknefs and charity to others. 

Cri. — It is very poffibie, that gentlemen of your feci: 
may think religion a (iibjed beneath their attention \ but 



too MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. V.] 

yet it feems that whoever fets up for oppofing any doc- 
trine, fhould know what it is he difputes againft. Know 
then, that religion is the virtuous mean between incredu- 
lity and fuperftition. We do not, therefore, contend 
for fuperftitious follies, or for the rage of bigots. What 
we plead for is, religion againft profanenefs, law againft 
confufiort, virtue againft vice, the hope of a chriftian 
againft the defpondency of an atheift. I will not juftify 
bitter refentments and unholy wrath in any man, much 
lefs in a chriftian, and leaft of all in a clergyman. But 
if Tallies of human paffion mould fometimes appear even in 
the beft, it will not furprife any one who reflects on the 
farcafms and ill manners with which they are treated by 
the Minute Philofophers. For, as Cicero fomewhere ob- 
ferves, Habet quendam aculeuirr contumelia, quern pati pru- 
denies ac viri boni difficillinie pojfunt. But although you 
might fometimes obferve particular perfons, profeffing 
themfelves chriftians, run into faulty extremes of any 
kind, through paffion and infirmity, while infidels of a 
more calm and difpaflionate temper fhall perhaps behave 
better; — -yet thefe natural tendencies, on either fide, 
prove nothing, either in favor of infidel principles, or 
againft chriftian. If a believer doth evil, it is owing to 
the man, not to his belief. And if an infidel doth good, 
it is owing to the man, and not to his infidelity. 

VII. Lys. — To cut this matter fhort, I (hall borrow 
an allufion to phyfic, which one of you made ufe of 
againft our feci:. It will not be denied that the clergy 
pafs for phyficians of the foul, and that religion is a fort 
of medicine which they deal in and adminifter. If then 
fouls, in great numbers, are difeafed and loft, how can 
we think the phyfician fkilful, or his phyfic good I It is 
a common complaint, that vice increafes, and men grow- 
daily more and more wicked. If a fhepherd's flock be 



[Dial. V.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 201 

difeafed or unfound, who is to blame but the fhepherd, 
for neglecting, or not knowing how to cure them ? A 
fig, therefore, for fuch ftiepherds, fuch phyfic, and fuch 
phyficians, who, like other mountebanks, with great 
gravity and elaborate harangues, put off their pills to the 
people, who are never the better for them. 

Euph.— Nothing feems more reafonable than this re- 
mark, that men fhould judge of a phyfician and his phy- 
fic, by its effects on the fick. But pray, Lyftcles> would 
you judge of a phyfician, by thofe fick who take his phy- 
fic and follow his prefcriptions, or by thofe who do not I 

Lys. — Doubtlefs by thofe who do. 

Euph. — What fhall we fay then, if great numbers re- 
fufe to take the phyfic, or, inftead of it, take poifon of a 
direct contrary nature, prescribed by others, who make 
it their bufinefs to difcredit the phyfician and his medi- 
cines, to hinder men from ufing them, and to deftroy 
their effect by drugs of their own ? Shall the phyfician be 
blamed for the mifcarriage of thofe people ? 

Lys. — By no means. ,... 

Euph. — By a parity of reafon, fhould it not follow, 
that the tendency of religious doctrines ought to be judg- 
ed of by the effects which they produce, not upon all 
who hear them, but upon thofe only who receive or be- 
lieve them ? 

Lys. — It feems fo. 

Euph. — Therefore, to proceed fairly, fhall we not 
judge of the effects of religion by the religious, of faith by 
the believers, of chriflianity by chriftians ? 

VIII. Lys. — But I doubt thefe fincere believers are 
very few. 

Euph.— But will it not fuffice to juftify our principles, 
if, in proportion to the numbers which receive them, and 
the degree of faith with which they are received, they 

B h 



1*2 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. V.] 

produce good effects ? Perhaps the number of believers, 
are not fo few as you imagine ; and if they were, whofe 
fault is that fo much as of thofe who make it their pro- 
feffed endeavor to leiTen that number ? And who are 
thofe but the Minute Philofophers ? 

Lys. — I tell you, it is owing to the clergy themfelves, 
to the wickednefs and corruption of clergymen. 

Eupk.— And who denies that there may be Minute 
Philofophers even among the clergy ? 

Cm. — In fo numerous a body, it is to be prefumcd 
there are men of all forts. But notwithftanding the cru- 
el reproaches cafl upon that order by their enemies, an 
equal obferver of men and things will, if I miftake not, 
be inclined to think thofe reproaches owing as much to 
other faults, as thofe of the clergy : Efpecially if he con- 
fiders the declamatory manner of thofe who cenfure them. 

Euph. — My knowledge of the world, is too narrow for 
me to pretend to judge of the virtue, and merit, and liber- 
al attainments of men, in the feveral profefiions. Befides, 
I fhotuld not care for the odious work of comparison : But 
I may venture to fay, the clergy of this country where I 
Jive, are by no means a difgrace to it : On the contrary, 
the people feem much the better for their example and 
doctrine. But fuppofing the clergy to be (what all men 
certainly are) finners, and faulty ; fuppofing you might 
fpy out here and there among them even great crimes and 
vices : what can you conclude againft the profeffion itfelf 
from its unworthy profeflbrs, any more than from the 
pride, pedantry, and bad lives of fome philofophers 
againft philofophy, or of lawyers againft law ? 

IX. Cri.-— It is certainly right to judge of principles 
from their effe&s, but then we muft know them to be 
effe£ts of thofe principles. It is the very method I have 
obferved, with refpecl: to religion and the Minute Philofo- 



[Dial. V.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 203 

phy. And I can honeftly aver, that I never knew any 
man, or family, grow worfe in proportion as they grew reli- 
gious : JSut I have often obferved, that Minute Philofophy 
is the worft thing which can get into a family, the readied 
way to impoverim, divide, and difgrace it. 

Alc. — By the fame method of tracing caufes from 
their effects, I have made it my obfervation, that the love 
of truth, virtue, and the happinefs of mankind are fpe- 
cious pretexts, but not the inward principles that fet di- 
vines at work : Elfe why mould they affecl to abufe hu- 
man reafon, to difparage natural religion, to traduce the 
philofophers, as they univerfally do ? 

Cri. — Not fo univerfally perhaps as you imagine. A 
chriftian, indeed, is for confining reafon within its due 
bounds : And fo is every reafonable man. If we are for- 
bid meddling with unprofitable queftions, vain philofophy, 
and fcience, falfly fo called, it cannot be thence inferred, 
that all inquiries into profitable queftions, ufeful philofo- 
phy, and true fcience, are unlawful. A Minute Philofo- 
pher may indeed impute, and perhaps a weak brother may 
imagine, thofe inferences, but men of fenfe will never make 
them. God is the common Father of lights : And all 
knowledge, really fuch, whether natural or revealed, is 
derived from the fame fource of light and truth. To 
amafs together authorities upon fo plain a point, would be 
needlefs. It mud be owned, fome men's attributing too 
much to human reafon, hath, as is natural, made others 
attribute too little to it. But thus much is generally ac- 
knowledged, that there is a natural religion, which may 
be difcovered and proved by the light of reafon, to thofe 
who are capable of fuch proofs. But it muft be withal 
acknowledged, that precepts and oracles from Heaven arc- 
incomparably better fuited to popular improvement, and 
the good of fociety, than the reafonings of philofophers : 
And accordingly we do not find, that natural or rational 



2o 4 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. V.] 

religion, as fuch, ever became the popular national reli- 
gion of any country. 

X. Alc— It cannot be denied, that in all heathen coun- 
tries, there have been received, under the colour of reli- 
gion, a world of fables and fuperftitious rites. But I 
queftion whether they were fo abfurd, and of fo bad influ- 
ence, as is vulgarly reprefented, fince their refpe&ive le- 
giflatofs and magiftrates mu ft, without doubt, have thought 
them ufeful. 

Cri. — It were needlefs to inquire into all the rites and 
notions of the Gentile world. This hath been largely done 
when it was thought necefTary. And whoever thinks it 
worth while, may be eafily fatisfied about them. But as 
to the tendency and ufefulnefs of the heathen religion in 
general, I beg leave to mention a remark of St. Auguf- 
tine'sy* who obferves that the heathens, in their religion, 
had no aflemblies for preaching, wherein the people were 
to be inftru&ed what duties or virtues the Gods required, 
no place or means to be taught what Perfius f exhorts them 
to learn. 

Difciteque 6 miferi, & caufas cognofcite rerum, 
^uid fumusy & quidnam viBuri gignimur.—* 

Alc— This is the true fpirit of the party, never to al- 
low a grain of ufe or goodnefs to any thing out of their 
own pale : But we have had learned men, who have done 
juftice to the religion of the Gentiles. 

Ce-I. — We do not deny, but there was fomething ufeful 
in the eld religions of Rome and Greece, and fome other 
pagan countries. On the contrary, we freely own they 
produced fome good effects on the people : But then thefe 
good effects were owing to the truths contained in thofe 

.•DeCWiweDdl 4 . J Sat. .j 



[Dial. V.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. io 5 

falfe religions : The truer, therefore, the more ufeful. I 
believe you will find it a hard matter to produce any ufe- 
ful truth, any moral precept, any falutary principle, or 
notion, in any Gentile fyftem, either of religion or philo- 
fophy, which is not comprehended in the chriftian, and 
either enforced by ftronger motives, or fupported by bet- 
ter authority, or carried to a higher point of perfe&ion. 

XL Alc. — Confequently you would have us think 
ourfelves a finer people than the ancient Greeks or Romans. 

Cri. — If by finer, you mean better, perhaps we are : 
And if we are not, it is not owing to the chriftian religion, 
but to the want of it. 

Alc. — You fay perhaps we are. I do not pique my- 
felf on my reading : But mould be very ignorant to be ca- 
pable of being impofed on in fo plain a point. What ! 
compare Cicero or Brutus to an EngliJJj patriot, or Seneca to 
one of our parfons ! Then that invincible conflancy and 
vigour of mind, that difinterefted and noble virtue, that 
adorable public fpirit you fo much admire, are things 
in them fo well known, and fo different from our man- 
ners, that I know not how to excufe your perhaps. Eu- 
phranor 9 indeed, who pafTeth his life in this obfcure cor- 
ner, may poffibly miflake the characters of our times : 
But you, who know the worlds how could you be guilty of 
fuch a miflake ? 

Cri. — O Alciphron ! I would by no means detract from 
the noble virtue of ancient heroes : But I obferve thofe 
great men were not the Minute Philofophers of their 
times : ' And that the beft principles upon which they a£t- 
cd, are common to them with chriftians, of whom it 
would be no difficult matter to aflign, if not in our own 
times, yet within the compafs of our own hiflory, many 
inftances, in every kind of worth and virtue, public or 
private, equal to the mofl celebrated of the ancients. 
Though perhaps their (lory might not have been fo well 



io6 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. V.] 

told, fet off with fuch fine lights and colourings of ftilc, 
or fo vulgarly known and confidered by every fchool-bdy. 
But though it fhould be granted, that here and there a 
Greek or Roman genius, bred up under ftri£t laws, and 
fevere difcipline, animated to public virtue by ftatues, 
crowns, triumphal arches, and fuch rewards and monu- 
ments of great actions, might attain to a character and 
fame beyond other men ; yet this will prove only, that 
they had more fpirit, and lived under a civil polity more 
wifely ordered, in certain points, than ours : Which advan- 
tages of nature and civil inftitution will be no argument 
for their religion, or againft ours. On the contrary, it 
feems an invincible proof of the power and excellency of 
the chriftian religion, that, without the help of thofe ci- 
vil inftitutions and incentives to glory, it mould be able to 
infpire a phlegmatic people with the nobleft fentiments, 
and foften the rugged manners of northern boors into 
gentlenefs and humanity : And that thefe good qualities 
fhould become national, and rife and fall in proportion to 
the purity of our religion, as it approaches to, or recedes" 
from the plan laid down in the gofpel. 

XII. To make a right judgment of the effe&s of the 
chriftian religion, let us take a furvey of the prevailing 
notions and manners of this very country where we live, 
and compare them with thofe of our heathen predeceffors. 

Alc. — I have heard much of the glorious light of the 
gofpel, and mould be glad to fee fome effects of it in my 
own dear country, which, by the by, is one of the moft 
corrupt and profligate upon earth, notwithftanding the 
boafled purity of our religion. But it would look mean 
and diffident, to affect a comparifon with the barbarous 
heathen, from whence we drew our original; If you 
would do honor to your religion, dare to make it with- 
the moft renowned heathens of antiquity. 



CDul. V.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. zoj 

Cri. — It is a common prejudice, to defpife the pre- 
fent, and over-rate remote times,and things. Something 
of this feems to enter into the judgments men make of the 
Greeks and Romans. For though it muft be allowed, 
thofe nations produced fome noble fpirits, and great pat- 
terns of virtue : yet, upon the whole, it feems to me, they 
were much inferior, in point of real virtue and good mo- 
rals, even to this corrupt and profligate nation, as you 
are now pleafed to call it, in difhonor to our religion ; 
however you may think fit to chara&erife it, when you 
would do honor to the Minute Philofophy. This, I think, 
will be plain to any one, , who (hall turn off his eyes from 
a few mining characters, to view the general manners 
and cuftoms of thofe people. Their infolent treatment of 
captives, even of the higheft rank and fofter fex, their 
unnatural expofing of their own children, their bloody 
gladiatorian fpe&acles, compared with the common no- 
tions of Etfghjhmetiy are to me a plain proof, that our 
minds are much foftened by chriftianity. Could any 
thing be more unjuft, than the condemning a young lady 
to the moft infamous punifhment, and death, for the 
guilt of her father, or a whole family of flaves, perhaps 
fome hundreds, for a crime committed by one ? Or more 
abominable than the bacchanals and unbridled lufts of 
every kind ? which, notwithstanding all that has been 
done by Minute Philofophers to debauch the nation, and 
their fuccefsful attempts on fome part of it, have not yet 
been matched among us, at leaft not in every circum- 
ftance of impudence and afFrontery. While the Romans 
were poor, they were temperate ; but, as they grew rich, 
they became luxurious to a degree that is hardly believed 
or conceived by us. It cannot be benied, the old Roman 
ipirit was a great one. But it is as certain, there have 
been numberlefs examples of the moft refolute and clear 
courage in Britons, and, in general, from a religious caufe. 



2o8 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. V.] 

Upon the whole, it feems an inftance of the greateft 
blindnefs and ingratitude, that we do not fee and own 
the exceeding great benefits of chriftianity, which, to 
omit higher confiderations, hath fo vifibly foftened^ polifh- 
ed, and embellifhed our manners. 

XIII. Alc— O CritOy we are alarmed at cruelty in a 
foreign fhape, but overlook it in a familiar one. Elfe 
how is it poflible that you mould not fee the inhumanity 
of that barbarous cuftom of duelling, a thing avowed and 
tolerated, and even reputable among us ? Or that, fee- 
ing this, you mould fuppofe cur Englijhmen of a more 
gentle difpofition than the old Romans, who were alto- 
gether ft rangers to it ? 

Cri.-— I will by no means make an apology for every 
Goth that walks the ftreets, with a determined purpofe to 
murder any man who fhall but fpit in his face, or give 
him the lie. Nor do I think the chriftian religion in the 
leaft anfwerable, for a practice fo directly oppofite to its 
precepts, and which obtains only among the idle part of 
the nation, your men of fafhion ; who, inftead of law, 
reafon, and religion, are governed by fafhion. Be plea- 
fed to confider, that what may be, and truly is, a moft 
fcandalous reproach to a chriftian country, may be none 
at all to the chriftian religion : For the pagan encouraged 
men in feveral vices, but the chriftian in none. 

Alc— -Give me leave to obferve, that what you now 
fay is foreign to the purpofe. For the queftion, at pre- 
fent, is not concerning the refpeftive tendencies of the 
pagan and the chriftian religions, but concerning our man- 
ners, as actually compared with thofe of ancient heath- 
ens, who, I aver, had no fuch barbarous cuftom as duel- 
ing. 

Cri.— And I aver that, bad as this is, they had a 
worfe; and that was poifoning. By which we haveirea- 



[Dial. V.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 209 

fon to think there were many more lives destroyed, than 
by this Gothic crime of duelling : inafmuch. as it extended 
to all ages, fexes, and characters, and as its effe&s were 
more fecret and unavoidable : and as it had more tempt- 
ations, intereft as well as paffion, to recommend it to 
wicked men. And for the fact, not to wafte time, I re- 
fer you to the Roman authors themfelves. 

Lys. — It is very true, duelling is not fo general a nufance 
as poifoning, nor of fo bafe a nature. This crime, if it 
be a crime, is in a fair way to keep its ground, in fpite 
of the law and the gofpel. The clergy never preach 
againft it, becaufe themfelves never fuffer by it ; and the 
man of honor mult never appear againft the means of 
vindicating honor. 

Cri. — Though it be remarked by fome of your fe£r, 
that the clergy are not ufed to preach againft duelling, 
yet I neither think the remark itfelf juft, nor the reafon 
affigned for it. In effect, one half of their fermons, all 
that is faid of charity, brotherly love, forbearance, meek- 
nefs, and forgiving injuries, is directly againft this wick- 
ed cuftom ; by which the clergy themfelves are fo far 
from never fuffering, that perhaps they will be found, all 
things confidered, to fuffer oftner than other men. 

Lys. — How do you make this appear ? 
' Cri. — An obferver of mankind may remark two kinds 
of bully, the fighting and the tame, both public nufances : 
the former (who is the more dangerous animal, but by 
much the lefs common of the two) employs himfelf whol- 
ly and folely againft the laity, while the tame fpecies exert 
their talents upon the clergy. The qualities conftituent 
of this tame bully, are natural rudenefs, joined with a de- 
licate fenfe of danger. For, you muft know, the force 
of inbred infolence, and ill manners, is not diminished, 
though it acquire a new determination, from the fafhion- 
abie cuftom of calling men to account for their behavior. 



*io MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. V.] 

Hence you may often fee one of thefe tame bullies ready 
to burft with pride and ill humour, which he dares not 
vent, till a parfon has come in the way to his relief. And 
the man of raillery, who would as foon bite off his tongue, 
as break a jeft on the profeflion of arms, in the prefence 
of a military man, (hall inftantly brighten up, and af- 
fume a familiar air with religion and the church before 
eccleliaftics. Dor con y who paffeth for a poltron and ftu- 
pid in all other company, and really is fo, when he is 
got among clergymen, effecls a quite oppofite character. 
And many Dor cons there are, which owe their wit and 
courage to this paffive order. 

XIV. Alc. — But to return to the point in hand, can 
you deny, the old Romans were as famous for juftice and 
integrity, as men in thefe days for the contrary qualities ? 

Cri. — The character of the Romans is not to be taken 
from the fentiments of Tully or Gate's actions, or a fhin- 
ing paflage, here and there, in their hiftory, but from the 
prevailing tenor of their lives and notions. Now if they 
and our modern Britons are weighed in this fame equal 
balance, you will, if I miftake not, appear to have been 
prejudiced in favor of the old Romans againft your own 
country : Probably becaufe it profeffeth chriftianity. 
Whatever inftances of fraud or injuftice may be feen in 
chriftians, carry their own cenfure with them, in the care 
that is taken to conceal them, and the fliame that attends 
their difcovery. There is, even at this day, a fort of 
modefty in all our public councils and deliberations. 
And I believe, the boldefl of our Minute Philofophers 
would hardly undertake in a popular afTembly, to propofe 
any thing parallel to the rape of the Sabines, the moft un- 
juft ufage of Lucius Tarquinius Cot/atinus, or the ungrate- 
ful treatment of Camillus, which, as a learned father ob- 
ferves, were inftances of iniquity agreed to by the public 



[Dial. V.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 211 

body of the Romans. And if Rome, in her early days, 
were capable of fuch flagrant injuftice, it is molt certain 
{he did not mend her manners, as me grew great in wealth 
and empire, having produced monfters in every kind of 
wickednefs, as far exceeding other men, as they furpaf- 
fed them in power. I freely acknowledge, the chriftian 
religion hath not had the fame influence upon the nation, 
that it would, in cafe it had been always profefTed in its pu- 
rity, and cordially believed by all men. But I will ven- 
ture to fay, that if you take the Roman hiftory from one 
end to the other, and impartially compare it with our own, 
you will neither find them fo good, nor your countrymen 
fo bad as you imagine. On the contrary, an indifferent eye 
may, I verily think, perceive a vein of charity and juftice, 
the effecT: of christian principles, run through the latter -, 
which, though not equally difcernible in all parts, yet 
difclofeth itfelf fufficiently to make a wide difference upon 
the whole, in fpite of the general appetites and paflions 
of human nature, as well as of the particular hardnefs 
and roughnefs of the block, out of which we were hewn. 
And it is obfervable (what the Roman authors themfelves 
often fuggeft) that, even their virtues and magnanimous 
actions rofe and fell with a fenfe of Providence and a fu- 
ture ftate, and a philofophy the nearefl to the chriflian 
religion. 

XV. Crito having fpoke thus, paufed. But Alciphron 
addrefling himfelf ' to Euphranor and me, faid, it is natural 
for men, according to their feveral educations and preju- 
dices, to form contrary judgments upon the fame things, 
which they view in very different lights. Crito 9 for in- 
fiance, imagines that none but falutary efFe£b proceed 
from religion : On the other hand, if you appeal to the 
general experience and obfervation of other men, you 



212 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. V.] 

fhall find it grown into a proverb, that religion is the root 
of evil. 

Tantum Religio potuit fuadere malorum. 

And this, not only among Epicureans > or other ancient 
heathens, but among moderns fpeaking of the chriftian 
religion. Now methinks it is unreafonable to oppofe 
againft the general concurring opinion of the world, the 
obfervation of a particular perfon, or particular fet of 
zealots, whofe prejudice flicks clofe to them, and ever 
mixeth with their judgment ; and who read, colleft, and 
obferve with an eye not to difcover the truth, but to de- 
fend their prejudice. 

Cri. — Though I cannot think with Alciphron, yet . I 
muft own I admire his addrefs and dexterity in argument. 
Popular and general opinion is by him reprefented, on 
certain occafions, to be a fure mark of error. But when 
it ferves his ends that it fhould feem otherwife, he can as 
eafily make it a character of truth. But it will by no 
means follow, that a profane proverb, ufed by the friends 
and admired authors of a Minute Philofopher, muft there- 
fore be a received opinion, much lefs a truth grounded 
on the experience and obfervation of mankind. Sadnefs 
may fpring from guilt or fuperftition, and rage from big- 
otry : But darknefs might as well be fuppofed the natural 
efFe£r, of funfhine, as fullen and furious paffions to pro- 
ceed from the glad tidings and divine precepts of the gof- 
pel. What is the fum and fubftance, fcope and end, of 
Chrift's religion, but the love of God and man ? To which 
all other points and duties (whether pofitive or moral) 
are relative and fubordinate, as parts or means, as figns, 
principles, motives, or effects. Now I would fain know, 
how it is poffible for evil or wickednefs, c£ any kind, to 
fpring from fuch a fcurce. I will not pretend, there are 



[Dial. V.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 213 

no evil qualities in chriftians, nor good in Minute Pliilo- 
phers. But this I affirm, that whatever evil is in us, our 
principles certainly lead to good : And whatever good 
there may be in you, it is moil certain your principles lead 
to evil. 

XVI. Alc. — It muft be owned, there is a fair outfide, 
and many plaufible things may be faid, for the chriftian 
religion, taken fimply as it lies in the gofpel. But it is the 
obfervation of one of our great writers, that the firft 
chriftian preachers very cunningly began with the faireft 
face and the beft moral doctrines in the world. It was 
all love, charity, meeknefs, patience and fo forth. But 
when by this means they had drawn over the world and 
got power, they foon changed their appearance, and 
(hewed cruelty, ambition, avarice, and every bad quality. 

Cri.— That is to fay, fome men very cunningly preach- 
ed and underwent a world of hardlhips, and laid down 
their lives to propagate the beft principles, and the beft 
morals, to the end that others, fome centuries after, might 
reap the benefit of bad ones. Whoever may be cunning, 
there is not much cunning in the maker of this obferv- 
ation. 

Alc— And yet ever fince this religion hath appeared in 
the world, we have had eternal feuds, factions, mafTa- 
cres, and wars, the very reverfe of that hymn with 
which it is introduced in the gofpel : Glory be to God en 
highy on Earthy Peace, Good-iuill towards Men. 

Cri. — This I will not deny. I will even own, that 
the gofpel, and the chriftian religion, have been often the 
pretexts for thefe evils : but it will not thence follow they 
were the caufe. On the contrary, it is plain, they could 
not be the real proper caufe of thefe evils ; becaufe a re- 
bellious, proud, revengeful, quarrelfome fpirit is diredUy 
oppofite to the whole tenor, and moft exprefs precepts of 



2i 4 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. V.] 

chriftianity : A point fo clear, that I (hall not prove it. 
And fecondly, becaufe all thofe evils you mention were as 
frequent, nay, much more frequent, before the chriftian 
religion was known in the world. They are the common 
product of the paflions and vices of mankind, which are 
fometimes covered with the malk of religion by wicked 
men, having the form of godlinefs, without the power of 
it. This truth feems fo plain, that I am furprifed how 
any man of fenfe, knowledge, and candour can make a 
doubt of it. 

XVII. Take but a view of heathen Rome ; what a 
fcene is there of faction, and fury, and civil rage ? Let 
any man confider the perpetual feuds, between the Pa- 
tricians and Plebeians, the bloody and inhuman factions of 
Marius and Sylla, Cinna and Oclavius, and the vaft hav- 
ock of mankind, during the two famous triumvirates. — 
To be fhort, let any man of common candor, and com- 
mon fenfe, but caft an eye, from one end to the other 
of the Roman ftory, and behold that long fcene of feditions, 
murders, maflacres, proscriptions, and defolations, of 
every kind, enhanced by every cruel circumftance of rage, 
rapine, and revenge •, and then fay, whether thofe evils 
were introduced into the world with the chriftian reli- 
gion, or whether they are not lefs frequent now than be- 
fore ? 

Alc— The ancient Romans, it muft be owned, had a 
high and fierce fpirit, which produced eager contentions, 
and very bloody cataftrophes. The Greeks, on the other 
hand, were a polite and gentle fort of men, foftened by 
arts and philofophy. It is impoffible to think of the little 
Hates and cities of Greece, without wifhing to have lived 
in thofe times, without admiring their policy, and envy- 
ing their happinefs. 

Cri.— Men are apt to confider the dark fides of what 
they poffefs, and the bright ones of things out of their 



[Dial. V.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. *i; 

reach. A fine climate, elegant tafte, polite amufements, 
love of liberty, and a mod ingenious inventive fpirit for 
arts and fciences, were indifputable prerogatives of an- 
cient Greece. But, as for peace and quietnefs, gentle- 
nefs and humanity, I think we have plainly the advant- 
age : For thofe envied cities, compofed of gentle Greeks, 
were not without their factions, which perfecuted each 
other with fuch treachery, rage, and malice, that, in re* 
fpect of them, our factious folk are mere lambs. To be 
convinced of this truth, you need only look into Thucy- 
dides \ * where you will find thofe cities, in general, in- 
volved in fuch bitter factions, as for fellow citizens, with- 
out the formalities of war, to murder one another, even 
in their fenate houfes and their temples ; no regard 
being had to merit, rank, obligation, or nearnefs of 
blood. And if human nature boiled up to fo vehement a 
pitch in the politeft people, what wonder that favage na- 
tions mould fcalp, roft, torture, and deftroy each other, 
as they are known to do ? It is therefore plain, that, 
without religion, there would not be wanting pretexts for 
quarrels and debates ; all which can very eafily be ac- 
counted for by the natural infirmities and corruption of 
men. It would not perhaps be fo eafy to account for the 
blindnefs of thofe, who impute the moft hellifh effects to 
the moft divine principle, if they could be fuppofed in 
earneft, and to have confidered the point. One may 
daily fee ignorant and prejudiced men, make the moft 
abfurd blunders : But that free-thinkers, divers to the 
bottom of things, fair inquirers, and openers of eyes, 
mould be capable of fuch a grofs miftake, is what one 
would not expect. 

XVIII. Alc — The reft of mankind we could more 
eafily give up : but as for the Greeks, men of the moft 
refined genius exprefs an high efteem of them : not only 

* Thucyd. 1. 3. 



ii6 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. V.] 

on account of thofe qualities which you think fit to al- 
low them, but alfo for their virtues. 

Cri. — I (hall not take upon me to fay how far fome 
men may be prejudiced againft their country, or whether 
others may not be prejudiced in favor of it. But, upon 
the fulleft and mo ft equal obfervation that I am able to 
make, it is my opinion, that, if by virtue is meant truth, 
juftice, gratitude, there is incomparably more virtue, at 
this day, in England, than at any time could be found 
in ancient Greece. Thus much will be allowed, that we 
know few countries, if any, where men of eminent worth, 
and famous for deferving well of the public, met with 
harder fate, and were more ungratefully treated, than in 
the mod polite and learned of the Grecian Hates. Though 
Socrates, it mult be owned, would not allow, that thofe 
ftatefmen, by adorning the city, augmenting the fleet, or 
extending the commerce of Athens, deferved well of their 
country •, or could with juftice complain of the ungrate- 
ful returns made by their fellow citizens, whom, while 
they were in power, they had taken no care to make bet- 
ter men, by improving and cultivating their minds with 
the principles of virtue, which, if they had done, they 
needed not to have feared their ingratitude. If I were to 
declare my opinion, what gave the chief advantage to 
Greeks and Romans, and other nations, which have made 
the greateft figure in the world, I mould be apt to think 
it was a peculiar reverence for their refpe£Uve laws and 
inftitutions, which infpired them with fteadinefs and 
courage, and that hearty generous love of their country ; 
by which they did not merely underftand, a certain lan- 
guage or tribe of men, much lefs a particular fpot of 
earth, but included a certain fyftem of manners, cuftoms, 
notions, rites, and laws, civil and religious. 

Alc — Oh ! I perceive your drift, you would have us 
reverence the laws and relieious inftitutions of our coun- 



[Dial. V.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 217 

try. But herein we beg to be excufed, if we do not think 
fit to imitate the Greeks, or to be governed by any autho- 
rity whatfoever. 

Cri. — So far from it. If mahomctanifm were aftab- 
liftied by authority, I make no doubt, thofe very free- 
thinkers, who at prefent applaud Turkifli maxims and 
manners, to that degree, you would think them ready to 
turn Turks, would then be the firft to exclaim againft them. 

Alc. — But to return : As for wars and factions, I 
grant they ever were, and ever will be, in the world, upon 
fome pretext or other, as long as men are men. 

XIX. But there is a fort of war and warriors peculiar 
to chriftendom, which the heathens had no notion of : I 
mean difputes in theology and polemical divines, which 
the world hath been wonderfully peftered with : Thefe 
teachers cf peace, meeknefs, concord, and what not ! If 
you take their word for it ; but if you call an eye 
upon their practice, »you 'find them to have been in 
all ages the moil contentious, quarrelfome, difagreeing 
crew' that ever appeared upon earth. To obferve the 
fkill and fophiftry, the zeal and eagernefs, with which 
thofe barbarians, the fchool-divines, fplit hairs, and con- 
teft about chimeras, gives me more indignation, as being 
more abfurd, and a greater fcandal to human reafon, than 
all the ambitious intrigues, cabals, and politics of the 
court of Rome. 

Cri. — If divines are quarrelfome, that is not fo far 
forth as divine, but as undivine and unchriftian. Juftice 
is a good thing ; and the art of healing is excellent •, ne- 
verthetefs, in the adminiftring of juftice, or phyfic, men 
may be wronged or poifoned. But as wrong cannot be 
juftice, or the effecl: of juftice, fo poifon cannot be med- 
icine, or the effecl: of medicine ; fo neither can pride or 
ftrife be religion, or the effecl: of religion. Having pre- 
mifed this, I acknowledge, you may often lee hot-headed 
D d 



5u8 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. V.] 

bigots engage themfelves in religious as well as civil par- 
ties, without being of credit or fervice to either. And 
as for the fchoolmen in particular, I do not in the leaft, 
think the chriftian religion concerned in the defence of 
them, their genets, or their method of handling them : 
But, whatever futility there may be in their notions, or 
inelegancy in their language, in pure juftice to truth one 
muft own, they neither banter, nor rail, nor declaim in 
their writings, and are fo far from (hewing fury or paf- 
fion, that perhaps an impartial judge will think, the 
Minute Philofophers are by no means to be compared with 
them, for keeping clofe to the point, or for temper and 
good manners. But after all, if men are puzzled, wran- 
gle, talk nonfenfe, and quarrel about religion; fo they 
do about law, phyfic, politics, and every thing elfe of 
moment. I afk, whether in thefe profeffions, or in any 
other, where men have refined and abftra£ted, they do 
not run into difputes, chicane, nonfenfe, and contradic- 
tions, as well as in divinity ? And yet this doth not hinder 
but there may be many excellent rules, and jufl notions, 
and ufeful truths, in all thofe profeffions. In all difputes 
human paflions too often mix themfelves, in proportion as 
the fubjecl: is conceived to be more or lefs important. 
But we ought not to confound the caufe of man with 
the caufe of God, or make human follies an objection to 
divine truths. It is eafy to diftinguifh what looks like 
wifdom from above, and what proceeds from the paflion 
and weaknefs of men. This is. fo clear a point, that one 
would be tempted to think, the not doing it was an effect, 
not of ignorance, but of fomething worfe. 

XX. The conduct we obje&to Minute Philofophers, 
is a natural confequence of their principles. Whatsoever 
they can reproach us with, is an effecl:, not of our princi- 
ples, but of human paflion and frailty. 



[Dial. V.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 219 

Alc. — This is admirable. So we muft no longer ob- 
ject to chriftians the abfurd contentions of councils, the 
cruelty of inquifitions, the ambition and ufurpations of 
churchmen. 

Cri. — You may object them to chriftians, but not to 
chriftianity. If the Divine Author of our religion, and 
his difciples, have fowed a good feed ; and together with 
this good feed, the enemies of his gofpel (among whom 
are to be reckoned the Minute Philofophers of all ages) 
have fowed bad feeds, whence fpring tares and thiftles 5 
is it not evident, thefe bad weeds cannot be imputed to the 
good feed, or to thofe who fowed it ? Whatever you do 
or can object againft ecclefiaflical tyranny, ufurpation, or 
fophiftry, may, without any blemifh or difadvantage to 
religion, be acknowledged by all true chriftians : Provi- 
ded ftill, that you impute thofe wicked effects to their 
true caufe, not blaming any principles or perfons for them, 
but thofe that really produce or juftify them. Certainly, 
as the interefts of chriftianity are not to be fupported by 
unchriftian methods, whenever thefe are made ufe of, it 
muft be fuppofed there is fome other latent principle 
which fets them at work. If the very court of Rome hath 
been known, from motives of policy, to oppofe fettling 
the inquifition in a kingdom, where the fecular power 
hath endeavored to introduce it in fpite of that court : # 
We may well fuppofe, that elfewhere factions of ftate, 
and political views of princes, hath given birth to tranfactions 
feemingly religious, wherein, atbottom, neither religion, nor 
church, nor churchmen, were at all considered. As no man of 
common fenfe an#honefty will engage in a general defence 
of ecclefiaftics, fo I think no man of common candour 
can condemn them in general. Would you think it reafon- 
able to blame all ftatefmen, or lawyers, or foldiers, for the 

Paolo iftoria dell* Inquifizionc. p. 4V 



22© MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. V.] 

faults committed by thofe of their profeflion, though in 
other times, or in other countries, and influenced by oth- 
er maxims and other difcipline ? And if not, why do you 
rneafure with one rule to the clergy, and another to the 
laity ? Surely the beft reafon that can be given for this is 
prejudice. Should any man rake together all the mifchiefs 
that have been committed in all ages and nations, by fol- 
diers and lawyers, you would, I fuppofe, conclude from 
thence, not that the ft ate mould be deprived of thofe ufe- 
ful profeffions, but only that their exorbitances mould be 
guarded againft and puniftied. If you took the fame equi- 
table courfe with the clergy, there would indeed be lefs 
to be faid againft you : But then you would have much 
lefs to fay. This* plain obvious confideration, if every 
one who read confidered, would lerTen the credit of your 
declaimers. 

Alc. — But when all is faid that can be faid, it muft 
move a man's indignation to fee reafonable creatures, un- 
der the notion of ftudy and learning, employed in read- 
ing and writing fo many voluminous traces de land caprind. 

Cri.-— I (hall not undertake the vindication of theolog- 
ical writings, a general defence being as needlefs as a 
general charge is groundlefs. Only let them fpeak for 
themfelves : And let no man condemn them upon the 
word of a Minute Philofopher. But we will imagine 
the very worft, and fuppofe that a wrangling pedant in di- 
vinity difputes, and ruminates, and writes, upon a refined 
point, as ufelefs and unintelligible as you pleafe. Sup- 
pofe this fame perfon bred a layman, might he not have 
employed himfelf in tricking bargains, vexatious law-fuits, 
factions, feditions, and fuch like amufements, with much 
more prejudice to the public ? Suffer then curious wits to 
fpin cobwebs : Where is the hurt ? 

Alc. — The mifchief is, what men want in light they 
commonly make up in heat : Zeal, and ill-nature, being 



[Dial. V.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 221 

weapons coiiftantly exerted by the partifans, as well as 
champions, on either fide : And thofe perhaps not mean 
pedants or book-worms. You fhall often fee even the 
learned and eminent divine, lay himfelf out in explaining 
things inexplicable, or contend for a barren point of the- 
ory, as if his life, liberty or fortune were at flake. 

Cri. — No doubt all points in 'divinity are not of equal 
moment. Some may be too fine fpun, and others have 
more ftrefs laid on them than they deferve. Be the fub- 
je£t what it will, you fhall often obferve that a point by 
being controverted, fingled out, examined, and nearly 
infpe£ted, groweth confiderable to the fame eye, that, 
perhaps, would have overlooked it in a large and compre- 
henfive view. Nor is it an uncommon thing, to behold 
ignorance and zeal, united in men, who are born with a 
fpirit of party, though the church, or religion, have in 
truth but fmall fhare in it. Nothing is eafier than to 
make a Caricatura fas the painters call it) of any profef- 
flon upon earth : But, at bottom, there will be found no- 
thing fo ftrange in all this charge upon the clergy, as the 
partiality of thofe who cenfure them, in fuppofing the 
common defects of mankind peculiar to their order, or 
the effecl: of religious principles. 

Alc— Other folks may difpute or fquabble as they 
pleafe, and nobody mind them ; but it feems thefe ven- 
erable fquabbles of the clergy pafs for learning, and inter- 
eft mankind. To ufe the words of the moft ingenious 
chara&erizer of our times, " A ring is made, and read- 
ers gather in abundance. Every one takes party, and en- 
courages his own fide. This fhall be my champion ! 
This man for my money ! Well hit on our fide ! Again 
a good flroke ! There he was even with him ! Have at 
him the next bout ! Excellent fport !".* 

* Chara&eriftics, Vol. III. c. 3. 



222 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. V.] 

Cri. — Methinks I trace the man of quality and breed- 
ing in this delicate fatise, which fo politely ridicules thofe 
arguments, anfwers, defences, and replications, which 
the prefs groans under. 

■ Alc- — -To the infinite wafte of time and paper, and 
all the while nobody is one whit the wifer. And who 
indeed can be the wifer for reading books upon fubje&s 
quite out of the way, incomprehenfible, and molt wretch- 
edly written ? What man of fenfe or breeding would not 
abhor the infection of prolix pulpit eloquence, or of that 
dry, formal, pedantic, (tiff, and clumfy ftile, which 
fmells of the lamp and college ? 

XXI. They who have the weaknefs to reverence the 
univerfities as feats of learning, rauft needs think this a 
ftrange reproach ; but it is a veryjuft one. For the mod 
ingenious men are now agreed, that they are only nurfe- 
ries of prejudice, corruption, barbarifm, and pedantry. 

Lys. — For my part, I find no fault with univerfities. — 
All I know is, that I had the fpending three hundred 
pounds a year in one of them, and think it the chearful- 
efl time of my life. As for their books and ftile, I had 
not leifure to mind them. 

Cri.' — Whoever hath a mind to weed, will never want 
work ; and he that fhall pick out bad books on every fub- 
jecl:, will foon fill his library. I do not know what theo- 
logical writings Alciphron and his friends may be conver- 
fant in ; but I will venture to fay, one may find among 
our Englijh divines, many writers, who, for compafs of 
learning, weight of matter, flrength of argument, and 
purity of ftile, are not inferior to any in our language. — 
It is not my defign to apologize for the univerfities : what- 
ever is amifs in them (and what is there perfect among 
men ?) I heartily wifh amended. But I dare affirm, be- 
caufe I know it to be true, that any impartial obferver, 



[Dial. V.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 223 

although they fhould not come up to what in theory he 
might wifli or imagine, will neverthelefs find them much, 
fuperior to thofe that, in facl:, are to he found in other 
countries, and far beyond the mean picture that is drawn 
of them by Minute Philofophers. It is natural for thofe. 
to rail moft at places of education, who have profited leaft 
by them. Weak and fond parents will alfo readily im- 
pute to a wrong caufe, thofe corruptions themfelves have 
occafioned, by allowing their children more money than 
.they knew how to fpend innocently. And too often a 
gentleman, who has been idle at the college, and kept 
idle company, will judge of a whole univerfity from his 
own cabal. 

Alc — Crito miftakes the point. I vouch the authori- 
ty, not of a dunce, or a rake, or abfurd parent, but of 
the moft confummate critic this age has produced. This 
great man chara&erizeth men of the church and uni- 
verfities with the fined touches, and moft mafterly pen- 
cil. What do you think he calls them ? 

Euph. — What ? 

Alc. — Why, the black tribe, magicians, formalifts, 
pedants, bearded boys ; and, having fufficiently derided 
and exploded them, and their mean ungenteel learning, 
he fets moft admirable models of his own for good writ- 
ing : And it muft be acknowledged, they are the fineft 
things in our language •, as I could eafily convince you, 
for I am never without fomething of that noble writer 
about me. 

Euph. — Is he then a noble writer ? 

Alc — I tell you he is a nobleman. 

Euph. — But a noble man who writes, is one thing, 
and a noble writer is another. 

Alc. — Both characters are coincident, as you may fee. 

XXII. Upon which Alciphron pulled a treatife out of 
his pocket, intitled A Soliloquy > or Advice to an Author, — 



224 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. VJ 

Would you behold, faid he, looking round upon the 
company, a noble fpecimen of fine writing : do but dip 
into this book, which Crito opening, read verbatim as 'fol- 
lows. * 

* Where then are the Pleafures which ambition promifes^ 

* And love affords ? How's the gay world enjoy' dP 

* Or are thofe to be efeem'd no pleafures y 

* Which are lojl by dullnefs and inaElion ? 

* But indolence is the highejl pleafure. 

* To live and not to feel ! To feel no trouble, 
' What good then ? Life itfelf. And is 

f This properly to live P Is Jleeping life 2 

* Is this what I Jhouldfludy to prolong P 

* Here the 

f Fantaflic tribe itfelffeems fcandaliz'd. 

* A civil war begins : The major part 

* Of the capricious dames do range themfelves 
( On reafon's fde, 

f And declare againfl the languid firen. 

* Ambition blujhes at the offer' dfweet. 

1 Conceit and vanity take fuperior airs* 

* Ev'n luxury herfelf in her polite 

* And elegant humour , reproves th' apoflate 

* Sifter. 

€ And marks her as an alien to true pleafure. 

* Away thou 

€ Drowfy phantom ! Haunt me no more^for I 

6 Have learn' d, from better than thy fifter hood, 

' That life and happinefs confift in aclion 

c And employment. 

( But here a bufy form f elicits us f 

c Aclive y indujlriousy watchful ', anddefpifing 

* Pains and labor. She wears the fericus 

Part 3. Se&. %, 



£Dial. V.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 225 

* Countenance of virtue, but with features 
c Of anxiety and difquiet. 

6 What is'tfhe mutters P What looks Jhe on with 
6 Such admiration and aflonifoment P 

* Bags ! Coffers ! Heaps of fhinitig metal ! What I 
€ For thefervice of luxury P For her ? 

* Thefe preparations P Art thou then her friend t 

* Grave Fancy J Is it for her thou ioil'Jl P 

* No, but for provifion againjl "want. 

* But luxury apart ! tell me now, 

* Hajl thou not already a competence P 

* *Tis good to be fecure again/} the fear 

' Offarving. Is there then no death but this P 

* No other paffage out of life P Are other doors 
€ Secur'd, if this be bar'd P Say avarice ! 

€ 'Thou emptiejl of phantoms, is it not vile 

* Cowardife thou fervfl P What further have I then 

* To do with thee (thou doubly vile dependent) 

* When once I have difmifidthy patronefs, 
' And defpifed her threats ? 

€ Thus I contend with fancy and opinion. 9 

Euphranor, having heard thus far, cried out, What I 
will you never have done with your poetry ? another 
time may ferve : But why mould we break off our con- 
ference to read a play ? You are miftaken, it is no play 
nor poetry, replied Alciphron, but a famous modern cri- 
tic moralizing in profe. You muft know this great man 
hath (to ufe his own words) revealed a grand arcanum to 
the world, having inftru&ed mankind in what he calls 
Mirrour-writing, felf-difcourfing pratlice, and author-prac- 
tice, and (hewed, " That by virtue of an intimate recefs, 
we may difcover a certain duplicity of foul, and divide 
owxfelf into two parties, or (as he varies the phrafe) prac- 
tically form the dual number." In confequence whereof 

E e 



226 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. V.] 

he hath found out that a man may argue with himfelf : 
And not only with himfelf, but alfo with notions, fenti- 
ments, and vices, which, by a marvellous profopopceia, he 
converts into fo many ladies : And fo converted, he con- 
futes and confounds them in a divine ftrain. Can any 
thing be finer, bolder, or more fublime ? 

Euph. — It is very wonderful. I thought indeed you 
had been reading a piece of a tragedy. Is this he who 
defpifeth our univerfities, and fets up for reforming the 
ftile and tafte of the age ? 

Alc— - The very fame. This is the admired critic of 
our times. Nothing can ftand the teft of his correct 
judgment, which is equally fevere to poets and parfons. 
" The Britijh mufes, (faith this great man) lifp as in their 
* cradles : And their Hammering tongues, which nothing 
" but youth and rawnefs can excufe, have hitherto fpoken 
« in wretched pun and quibble. Our dramatic Shake/pear, 
<l our Fletcher, John/on, and our Epique Milton, preferve 
" this ftile. And, according to him, even our later au- 
" thors, aiming at a falfe fublime, entertain our raw fancy 
" and unpra£Ufed ear, which has not yet had leifure to 
" form itfelf, and become truly mufical." 

Euph. — Pray what effe£b may the leffons of this great 
man, in whofe eyes our learned profeffors are but bearded 
boys, and our moft celebrated wits but wretched punfters, 
have had upon the public ? Hath he rubbed off the col- 
lege ruft, cured the rudenefs and rawnefs of our authors, 
and reduced them to his own attic ftandard ? Do they 
afpire to his true fublime, or imitate his chafte unaffe&ed 
ftile ? 

Alc» — Doubtlefs the tafte of the age is muft mended : 
In proof whereof his writings are univerfally admired. 
When our author publifhed this treatife, he forefaw the 
public tafte would improve apace : That arts and letters 
would grow to great perfection : That there would be a 



[Dial. V.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 227 

happy birth of genius : Of all which things he fpoke, as 
he faith himfelf, in a prophetic ftile. 

Cri. — And yet, notwithstanding the prophetical predic- 
tions of this critic, I do not find that any fcience hath 
throve among us of late, fo much as the Minute Philofo- 
phy. In this kind, it muft be confefTed, we have had 
many notable productions. But whether they are fuch 
matter-pieces for good writing, I leave to be determined 
by their readers. 

XXIII. In the mean time I muft beg to be excufed, if 
I cannot believe your great man on his bare word, when 
he would have us think, that ignorance and ill tafte are 
owing to the chriftian religion or the clergy, it being my 
fincere opinion, that whatever learning or knowledge we 
have among us, is derived from that order. If thofe, 
who are fo fagacious at difcovering a mote in other eyes, 
would but purge their own, I believe they might eafily 
fee this truth. For what but religion could kindle and 
preferve a fpirit towards learning, in fuch a northern 
rough people ? Greece produced men of active and fubtile 
genius. The public conventions and emulations of 
their cities forwarded that genius : And their natural cu- 
riofity was amufed and excited by learned converfations, 
in their public walks, and gardens, and porticoes. Our 
genius leads to amufements of a groffer kind : We breathe 
a grofier and a colder air : And that curiofity which was 
general in the Athenians^ and the gratifying of which was 
their chief recreation, is among our people of fafhion 
treated like affectation, and, as fuch, banifhed from polite 
afiTemblies and places of refort : And without doubt 
would, in a little time, be banifned the country ; If it were 
not for the great refervoirs of learning, where thofe for- 
malifts, pedants, and bearded boys, as your profound 
critic calls them, are maintained by the liberality and pi- 
ety of our predecefTors. For it is as evident that religion 



128 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [I>ial. V.] 

was the caufe of thofe feminaries, as it is that they arc 
the caufe or fource of all the learning and tafte which is 
to be found, even in thofe very men who are the declared 
enemies of our religion and public foundations. Every 
one, who knows any thing, knows we are indebted for 
our learning to the Greek and Latin tongues. This thofe 
fevere cenfors will readily grant. Perhaps they may not 
be fo ready to grant, what all men mud fee, that we are 
indebted for thofe tongues to our religion. What elfe 
could have made foreign and dead languages in fuch re- 
queft among us ? What could have kept in being and 
handed them down to our times, through fo many dark 
ages, in which the world was wafted and disfigured by 
wars and violence V What, but a regard to the holy fcrip- 
tures, and theological writings of the fathers and doc- 
tors of the church ? And, in fa£t, do we not find that the 
learning of thofe times was folely in the hands of ecclefi- 
aftics ; that they alone lighted the lamp in fucceflion one 
from another, and tranfmitted it down to after-ages ; and 
that ancient books were collecled and preferved in their 
colleges and feminaries, when all love and remembrance 
of polite arts and ftudies was extinguifhed among the lai- 
ty, whofe ambition intirely turned to arms ? 

XXIV. Aix.-^-There is, I mu ft needs fay, one fort of 
learning undoubtedly of chriftian original, and peculiar 
to the univerfities ; where our youth fpend feveral years in 
acquiring that myfterious jargon of fcholafticifm, than 
which there could never have been contrived a more ef- 
fectual method, to perplex and confound human under- 
Handing. It is true, gentlemen are untaught by the world 
what they have been taught at the college : but then their 
time is doubly loft. 

■Cri. — But what if this fcholaftic learning was not of 
chriftian, but of mahometan original, being derived from 



[Dial. V.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. .529 

the Arabs P And what if this grievance of gentlemen's 
fpending feveral years in learning and unlearning this jar- 
gon, be all grimace, and a fpecimen only of the truth and 
candour of certain Minute Philofophers, who raife great 
invectives from flight occafions, and judge too of ten with- 
out inquiring. Surely it would be no fuch deplorable lofs 
of time, if a young gentleman fpent a few months upon 
that fo much defpifed and decried art of logic, a furfeit 
of which is by no means the prevailing nufance of this 
age. It is one thing to wafte one's time in learning and 
unlearning the barbarous terms, wiredrawn diflinftions, 
and prolix fophiflry of the fchoolmen ; and another to 
attain fome exactnefs in defigning and arguing : Things 
perhaps not altogether beneath the dignity even of a Mi- 
nute Philofopher. There was indeed a time, when logic 
was confidered as its own object : And that art of rea- 
foning, inftead of being transferred to things, turned alto- 
gether upon words and abftra£tions : Which produced a 
fort of leprofy in all parts of knowledge, corrupting and 
converting them into hollow verbal difputations in a mod 
Impure dialed!:. But thofe times are paffed : And that 
which had been cultivated as the principal learning for 
fome ages, is now confidered in another light : And by 
no means makes that figure in the univerfities, or bears 
that part in the ftudies of young gentlemen educated there, 
which is pretended by thofe admirable reformers of reli- 
gion and learning, the Minute Philofophers. 

XXV. But who are they that encouraged and produ- 
ced the restoration of arts and polite learning ? "What 
fhare had the Minute Philofophers in this affair ? Matthias 
CorvinuSy king of Hungary, Alphonfus ■, king of Naples, 
Cofmus de Medicis, Picus, of Mirandula, and other princes 
and great men, famous for learning themfelves, and for 
encouraging it in others, with a munificent liberality, 



2 3 o MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. V.] 

were neither Turks nor Gentiles, nor Minute Philofo- 
phers. Who was it that tranfplanted and revived the 
Greek language and authors, and with them all polite arts 
and literature in the weft ? Was it not chiefly BeJ/arion, 
a cardinal, Marcus Mufurus, an archbifhop, Theodore 
Gaza, a private clergyman ? Has there been a greater 
and more renowned patron, and reftorer of elegant ftudies 
in every kind, fince the days of Augnjlus C/zfar, than Leo t 
the tenth pope of Rome ? Did any writers approach the 
purity of the ClaJJlcs nearer than the cardinals, Bembus 
and Sadoletus, or than the bifhops, Jovius and Vida P not 
to mention an endlefs number of ingenious ecclefiafties, 
who flourifhed on the other fide of the Alp's, in the gold- 
en age (as the Italians call it) of Leo the tenth, and 
wrote, both in their own language and the Latin, after 
the bed models of antiquity. It is true, this firft 
recovery of learning preceded the Reformation, and light- 
ed the way to it : but the religious controverfies, which 
enfued, did wonderfully propagate and improve it in all 
parts of Chriftendom. And furely the Church of Eng- 
land is, at leaft, as well calculated for the encourage- 
ment of learning, as that of Rome. Experience confirms 
this obfervation ; and I believe the Minute Philofophers 
will not be fo partial to Rome as to deny it. 

Alc— It is impoffible your account of learning beyond 
the Alps fhould be true. The noble critic in my hands, 
having complimented the French) to whom he allows 
fome good authors, afferts of other foreigners, particularly 
the Italians, " That they may be reckoned no better than 
the corrupters of true learning and erudition." 

Cri. — With fome forts of critics, dogmatical cenfures 
and conclufions are not always the refult of perfect know- 
ledge, or exacl: inquiry : And if the harrange upon tafte, 
truth of art, a juft piece, grace of ftile, attic elegance, 
and fuch topics, they are to be underftood only as thofe 



[Dm, VJ MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 231 

that would fain talk themfelves into reputation for cour- 
To hear ^Thrafymackiis fpeak of refentment, duels, 
tad points of honor, one would think him ready to burft 
with valour. 

Lys. — Whatever merit this writer may have as a demolim- 
er, I always thought he had a very little as a builder. It 
is natural for carelefs writers to run into faults they 
never think of : But for an exa£t and fevere critic to {hoot 
his bolt at random, is unpardonable. If he, who pro- 
feffes, at every turn, an high efteem for polite writing, 
fhould yet defpife thofe who molt excel in it, one would be 
tempted to fufpecl: his tafte. But if the very man, who, 
of all men, talk moll about art and tafte, and critical 
fkill, and would be thought to have moll confidered 
thofe points, mould often deviate from his own rules, 
into the falfe fublime, or the mauvaife plafanterie ; what 
reafonable man would follow the tafte and judgment of 
fuch a guide, or be feduced to climb the fteep afcent, or 
tread in the rugged paths of virtue, on his recommenda- 
tion ? 

XXVI. Alc — But to return, methinks Crito makes 
no compliment to the genius of his country, in fuppoling 
that EngliJImien might not have wrought out of themfelves, 
all art and fcience, and good tafte ; without being behold- 
en to church, or universities, or ancient languages. 

Cri. — What might have been, is only conjecture.— 
What has been, it is not difficult to know. That there is 
a vein in Britain> of as rich an ore as ever was in any 
country, I will not deny ; but it lies deep, and will coil 
pains to come at : and extraordinary pains require an ex- 
traordinary motive. As for what lies next the furface, it 
feems but indifferent, being neither fo good, nor in fuch 
plenty* as io fome other countries. It was the compar- 
ifon of an ingenious Florentine^ that the celebrated poems 



a 3 2 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. V.] 

of Tajfo and Ariofto are like two gardens, the one of cucum- 
bers, the other of melons. In the one you mail find few- 
bad, but the beft are not a very good fruit ; in the other 
much the greater part are good for nothing, but thofe that 
are good are excellent. Perhaps the fame comparison 
may hold good between the Englijh and fome of their 
neighbors. 

Alc. — But fuppofe we fhould grant, that the chriftian 
religion and its feminaries might have been of ufe, in pre- 
ferving or retrieving polite arts and letters \ what then ? 
Will you make this an argument of its truth ? 

Cri. — I will make it an argument of prejudice and in- 
gratitude in thofe Minute Philofophers, who object, dark- 
nefs, ignorance, and rudenefs, as an effecl: of that very 
thing, which, above all others, hath enlightened and ci- 
vilized, and embellifhed their country : which is as truly 
indebted to it for arts and fciences (which nothing but re- 
ligion was ever known to have planted in fuch a latitude) 
as for that general fenfe of virtue and humanity, and the 
belief of a Providence and future ftate, which all the ar- 
gumentation of Minute Philofophers hath not yet been able 
to abolifh. 

XXVII. Alc. — It is ftrange you mould flill perfift to 
argue, as if all the gentlemen of our feci: were enemies to 
virtue, and downrigh atheifts : Though I have aflured 
you of the contrary, and that we have among us feveral, 
^ who profefs themfelves in the interefts of virtue and natu- 
ral religion, and have alfo declared, that I rnyfelf do now 
argue upon that foot. 

Cri. — How can you pretend to be in the interefl of 
natural religion, and yet be profeifed enemies of the chrif- 
ftian, the only eftablifhed religion which includes what 
ever is excellent in the natural, and which is the only 
means of making thofe precepts, duties, and notions, fo 



[Dial. V.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 233 

called, become reverenced throughout the world ? Would 
not he be thought weak or infincere, who fhould go 
about to perfuade people, that he was much in the inter- 
efts of an earthly monarch ; that he loved and admired 
his government ; when at the fame time he (hewed him- 
felf on all occafions, a moft bitter enemy of thofe very 
perfons, and methods, which, above all others, contribu- 
ted moft to his fervice, and to make his dignity known 
and revered, his laws obferved, or his dominion extended? 
And is not this what Minute Philofophers do, while they 
fet up for advocates of God and religion, and yet do all 
they can to difcredit chriftians and their worfhip ? It muft 
be owned, indeed, that you argue againft chriftianity, as 
the caufe of evil and wickednefs in the world : But with 
fuch arguments, and in fuch a manner, as might equally 
prove the fame thing of civil government, of meat and 
drink, of every faculty and profefllon, of learning, of 
eloquence, and even of human reafon itfelf. After all, 
even thofe of your feci: who allow themfelves to be called 
deifts, if their notions are thoroughly examined, will, I 
fear, be found to include little of religion in them. As 
for the Providence of God, watching over the conduct of 
human agents, and difpenfing bleflings or chaftifements, 
the immortality of the foul, a final judgment, and future 
ftate of rewards and punifhments ; how few, if any, of 
your free-thinkers have made it their endeavor to polTefs 
men's minds with a ferious fenfe of thofe great points of 
natural religion ! How many, on the contrary, endeavor 
to render the belief of them doubtful or ridiculous ! It 
muft be owned, there may be found men, that, without 
any regard to thefe points, make fome pretence to reli- 
gion : But who can think them in earned ? You {hall 
fometimes fee, the very ringleaders of vice and profane- 
ncfs write like men, that would be thought to have virtue 
and piety at heart. This may perhaps prove them incon- 

F f 



234 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. V.] 

fiftent writers, but can never prove them to be innocent. 
When a man's declared principles and peculiar tenets are 
utterly fubverfive of thofe things f whatever fuch a one 
faith of virtue, piety, and religion, will be underftood 
as mere discretion and compliance with common forms. 

Lys. — To fpeak the truth, I, for my part, had never 
any liking to religion of any kind, either revealed or un- 
rcvealed : And I dare venture to fay the fame for thofe 
gentlemen of our -feci: that I am acquainted with, having 
never obferved them guilty of fo much meannefs, as even 
to mention the name of <God with reverence, or fpeak 
with the leaft regard of piety, or any fort of worfhip. 
There may, perhaps, be found one or two formal preten- 
ders to enthufiafm and devotion, in the way of natural 
religion, who laughed at chriftians for publifhing hymns 
and meditations, while they plagued the world with as 
bad of their own : But the fprightly men make a jell of 
all this. It feems to us mere pedantry. Sometimes, in- 
deed, in good company one may hear a word dropt in 
commendation of honor and good-nature : But the for- 
mer of thefe, by Connoiffeurs y is always underftood to 
mean nothing but fafhion : As the latter is nothing but 
temper and conftitution, which guides a man juft as appe* 
tite doth a brute. 

XXVIII. And after all thefe arguments and notions, 
which beget one another without end, to take the matter 
fhort : Neither I nor my friends, for our fouls, could ever 
comprehend, why man might not do very well, and gov- 
ern himfelf without any religion at all, as well as a brute, 
which is thought the fillier creature of the two. Have 
brutes inftincts, fenfes, appetites, and paffions, to fteer 
and conducl: them ? So have men, and reafon, over and 
above, to confult upon occafion. From thefe premifes we 
conclude, the road of human life is fufficiently lighted 
without religion. 



[Dial. V.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 235 

Cri. — Brutes having but fmall power, limited to things 
prefect or particular, are fufliciently oppofed and kept in 
order, by the force or faculties of other animals, and the 
fkiil of man, without confcience or religion : But con- 
fcience is a neceffary balance to human reafon, a faculty 
of fuch mighty extent and power, efpecially toward mif- 
chief. Befides, other animals are, by the law of their na- 
ture, determined to one certain end, or kind of benag, 
without inclination or means either to deviate or go beyond 
it. But man hath in him a will and higher principle ; 
by virtue whereof he may purfue different or even contra- 
ry ends ; and either fall fhort of, or exceed the perfection 
natural to his fpecies in this world ; as he is capable, ei- 
ther by giving up the reins to his -fenfual appetites, of 
degrading himfelf into the condition of brutes, or elfe, 
by well ordering and improving his mind, of being trans- 
formed into, the fimilitude of angels. Man alone, of all 
animals, hath understanding to know his God. What 
availeth this knowledge, unlefs it be to enoble man, and 
raife him to an imitation and participation of the Divinity ? 
Or what could fuch enoblement avail, if to end with this 
life ? Or how can thefe things take effecT:, without reli- 
gion ? But the points of vice and virtue, man and bead, 
fenfe and intellect, have been already at large canvaffed. 
What ! Lyfic/esy would you have us go back where we 
were three or four days ago ? 

Lys. — By no means : I had much rather go forward, 
and make an end as foon as poflible. But to fave trouble, 
give me leave to tell you, once for all, that, fay what you 
can, you (hall never perfuade me, fo many ingenious agree- 
able men are in the wrong, and a pack of marling four 
bigots in the right. 

XXIX. Cri.— O Lyficles, I neither look for r ligion 
among bigots, nor reafon among libertines j each kind 



2 3 <5 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. V.] 

difgrace their feveral pretentions : the one owning, no re- 
gard even to the plained and molt important truths, 
while the others exert an angry zeal for points of lead 
concern. And furely whatever there is of filly, narrow, 
and uncharitable in the bigot, the fame is in great meafure 
to be imputed to the conceited ignorance, and petulant 
profanenefs of the libertine. And it is not at all unlikely, 
that as libertines make bigots, fo bigots mould make liber- 
tines, the extreme of one party being ever obferved to 
produce a contrary extreme of another. And although, 
while thefe adversaries draw the rope of contention, rea- 
fon and religion are often called upon : Yet are they per- 
haps very little confidered or concerned in the conted. 
Lyficles, indead of anfwering Crito, turned fhort upon 
Alciphron. It was always my opinion, faid he, that no- 
thing could be fillier than to think of deftroying chriftian- 
ity, by crying up natural religion. Whoever thinks highly 
of the one, can never, with any confidency, think mean- 
ly of the other ; it being very evident, that natural reli- 
gion, without revealed, never was and never can be ef- 
tablifhed or received any where, but in the brains of a few 
idle fpeculative men. I was aware what your conceflions 
would come to. The belief of God, virtue, a future 
date, and fuch fine notions are, as every one may fee 
with half an eye, the very bafis and corner-done of the 
chridian religion. Lay but this foundation for them to 
build on, and you (hall foon fee what fuperdru&ures our 
men of divinity will raife from it. The truth and impor- 
tance of thofe points once admitted, a man need be no 
conjurer to prove, upon that principle, the excellency and 
ufefuinefs of the chridian religion : And then, to be fure, 
there mud be prieds to teach and propagate this ufeful 
religion : And if prieds, a regular fabordination, without 
doubt, in this worthy fociety, and a provifion for their 
maintenance : Such as may enable them to perform all 



[Dial. VJ MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. a 37 

their rites and ceremonies with decency, and keep their 
facred character above contempt. And the plain confe- 
quence of all this is, a confederacy between the prince and 
the priefthood, to fubdue the people : So we have let in at 
once upon us, a long train of ecclefiaftical evils, prieft- 
craft, hierarchy, inquifition. We have loft our liberty 
and property, and put the nation to vaft expence, only to 
purchafe bridles and faddles, for their own mouths and 
their own backs. 

XXX. This being fpoke with fome fharpnefs of tone, 
and an upbraiding air, touched Alciphron to the quick, 
who replied nothing, but fhewed confufion in his looks. 
dito fmiling, looked at Euphrawr and me, then calling 
an eye on the two philofophers, fpoke as follows : If I 
may be admitted to interpofe good offices, for prevent- 
ing a rupture between old friends and brethren, in opinion, 
I would obferve, that in this charge of Lyjtcles, there is 
fomething right, and fomething wrong. It feems right 
to affert as he doth, that the real belief of natural religion 
will lead a man to approve of revealed : But it is as wrong 
to affert, that inquifitions, tyranny, and ruin, mult fol- 
low from thence. Your free-thinkers, without offence 
be it faid, feem to miftake their talent. They imagine 
ftrongly, but reafon weakly ; mighty at exaggeration, 
and jejune in argument ! Can no method be found, to 
relieve them from the terror of that fierce and bloody ani- 
mal, an Englijh parfon ? Will it not fuffice to pare his tal- 
ons without chopping off his fingers ? Then they are fuch 
wonderful patriots for liberty and property ! When I hear 
thefe two words in the mouth of a Minute Philcfopher, I 
am put in mind of the Tejle di Ferrozt Rome. His holi- 
nsfs, it feems, not having power to affign penfions on 
Spanijh benefices to any but natives of Spain, always keeps 
at Rome two Spaniards, called Tefte di Ferro, who havs 



238 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. V.] 

the name of all fuch penfions, but not the profit, Munich 
goes to Italians. As we may fee every day, both things 
and notions placed to the account of liberty and property, 
which in reality neither have, nor are meant to have, any 
fhare in them. What ! Is it impoflible for a man to be a 
chriftian, but he muft be a flave ? Or a clergyman, but he 
muft have the principles of an inquifitor ? I am far from 
fcreeningand juftifying appetite of domination or tyrannical 
power in ecclefiaftics. Some, who have been guilty in that 
refpe£t, have forely paid for it, and it is to be hoped they 
always will. But having laid the fury and folly of the 
ambitious prelate, is it not time to look about and fpy 
whether, on the other hand, fome evil may not poffibly 
accrue to the ftate, from the overflowing zeal of an inde- 
pendent whig ? This I may affirm, without being at any 
pains to prove it, that the word tyranny this nation ever 
felt, was from the hands of patriots of that (lamp. 

XXXI. Lys. — I do not know. Tyranny is a harm 
word, and fometimes mifapplied. "When fpirited men 
of independent maxims create a ferment, or make a 
a change in the ftate ; he that lofeth is apt to confider 
things in one light, and he that wins in another. In the 
mean time, this is certainly good policy, that we mould 
be frugal of our money, and referve it for better ufes, 
than to expend on the church and religion. 

Cri. — Surely the old apologue of the belly and mem- 
bers need not be repeated to fuch knowing men. It mould 
feem as needlefs to obferve, that all other dates, which 
ever made any figure in the world for wifdom and polite- 
nefs, have thought learning deferved encouragement, as 
well as the fword : that grants for religious ufes were as 
fitting as for knights fervice : and foundations for propa- 
gating piety, as necefiary to the public welfare and de- 



[Dial. V.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 239 

fence, as either civil or military eftablifhments. In for- 
mer times, when the clergy were a body much more nu- 
merous, wealthy, and powerful : when in their ftate of 
celibacy they gave no pledges to the public : when they 
enjoyed great exemptions and privileges above their fel- 
low fubjecl:s : when they owned obedience to a foreign 
potentate, the cafe was evidently and widely different 
from what it is in our days. And the not difcerning, 
or not owning this difference, is no proof either of faga- 
city or honefty in the Minute Philofophers. But I afk, 
who are at this expenfe, and what is this expenfe fo 
much complained of ? 

Lys. — As if you had never heard of church-lands and 
tithes ! ,v^, > , - 

Cri.— But I would fain know, how they can be charg- 
ed as an expenfe, either upon the nation, or private men. 
Where nothing is exported, the nation lofeth nothing : 
and it is all one to the public, whether money circulates 
at home through the hands of a vicar or a fquire. Then 
as for private men, who, for want of thought, are full 
of complaint about the payment of tithes ; can any man 
juftly complain of it as a tax, that he pays what never 
belonged to him ? The tenent rents his farm with this 
condition, and pays his landlord proportionably lefs, than 
if his farm had been exempt from it : So he lofeth no- 
thing ; it being all one to him whether he pays his paf- 
tor or his landlord. The landlord cannot complain that 
he has not what he hath no right to, either by grant, pur- 
chafe, or inheritance. This is the cafe of tithes : and as 
for the church-lands, he furely can be no free-thinker, 
nor any thinker at all, who doth not fee that no man, 
whether noble, gentle, or plebeian, hath any fort cf 
right or claim to them, which he may not, with equal 
juftice, pretend to all the lands in the kingdom. 

Lys. — At prefent indeed we have no right, and that 
is our complaint. 



a 4 a MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. V.] 

Cri. — You would have then what you have no right 
to. 

Lys. — Not fo neither : what we would have is, firft a 
right conveyed by law, and, in the next place, the lands 
by virtue of fuch right. 

Cri. — In order to this, it might be expedient, in the 
firft place, to get on ac~t parted for excommunicating from 
all civil rights every man that is a chriftian, a fcholar, 
and wears a black coat, as guilty of three capital offences 
againft the public weal of this realm. 

Lys. — To deal frankly, I think it would be an excel- 
lent good a&. 

Cri. — It would provide at once for feveral deferving 
men, rare artificers in wit, and argument, and ridicule ! 
who have, too many of them, but fmall fortunes, with a 
great arrear of merit towards their country, which they 
have fo long enlightened and adorned gratis. 

Euph. — Pray tell me, Lyjicks, are not the clergy le- 
gally poflefled of their lands and emoluments ? 

Lys. — Nobody denies it. 

Euph. — Have they not been poflefled of them from 
time immemorial ? 

Lys. — This too I grant. 

Euph. — They claim then by law and ancient prescrip- 
tion. , 

Lys. — They do. 

Euph. — Have the oldeft families of the nobility a bet- 
ter title ? 

Lys. — I believe not. It grieves me to fee many over- 
grown eftates in the hands of ancient families, on account 
of no other merit, but what they brought with them into 
the world. 

Euph. — May you not then as well take their lands 
too, and bellow them on the Minute Philofophers, as 
perfons of more merit ? 



[Dial. V.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 241 

Lys. — So much the better. This enlarges our view, 
and opens a new fcene : It is very delightful, in the con- 
templation of truth, to behold how one theory grows out 
of another. 

Alc. — Old Patus ufed to fay, that if the clergy were 
deprived of their hire, we fhould lofe the moll popular 
argument againft them. 

Lys. — But fo long as men live by religion, there will 
never be wanting teachers and writers in defence of it. 

Cri. — And how can you be fure they would be want- 
ing, though they did not live by it, iince it is well known 
chriftianity had its defenders, even when men died by it ? 

Lys. — -One thing I know, — there is a rare nurfery of 
young plants growing up, who have been carefully guard- 
ed againft every air of prejudice, and fprinkled with the 
dew of our choicefi principles : mean while, wifhes are 
wearifome : and, to our infinite regret, nothing can be 
done, fo long as there remains any prejudice in favor of 
old cuftoms, and laws, and national constitutions, which, 
at bottom, ,we very well know, and can demonftrate, to 
be only words and notions. 

XXXII. But I can never hope, Crito, to make ycu 
think my fchemes reafonable. We reafon each right up- 
on his own principles, and fhall never agree till we quit 
our principles, which cannot be done by reafoning. We 
all talk of juft, and right, and wrong, and public good, 
and all thofe things. The names may be the fame, but 
the notions and conclufions very different, perhaps dia- 
metrically oppofite : and yet each may admit of clear 
proofs, and be inferred by the fame way of reafoning. 
For inftance, the gentlemen of the club which I frequent, 
define man to be a fociable animal : confequently we ex- 
clude, from this difinition all thofe human creatures, of 
whom it may be faid, we had rather have their room 

Gg 



2 4 a MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. V.] 

than their company. And fuch, though wearing the 
fhape of man, are to be efteemed in all account of reafon, 
not as men, but only as human creatures. Hence it 
plainly follows, that men of pleafure, men of humour, 
and men of wit, are alone properly and truly to be con- 
sidered as men. Whatever, therefore, conduceth to the 
emolument of fuch, is for the good of mankind, and 
confequently very juft and lawful, although feeming to be 
attended with lofs or damage to other creatures : inafmuch 
as no real injury can be done in life or property to thofe, 
who know not how to enjoy them. This we hold for 
clear and well connected reafoning. But others may 
view things in another light, aflign different definitions, 
draw other inferences, and perhaps confider, what we 
fuppofe the top and flower of the creation, only as a wart 
or excrefcence of human nature. From all which there 
mull enfue a very different fyftem of morals, politics, 
rights, and notions. 

Cri. — If you have a mind to argue, we will argue : If 
you have more mind to jeft, we will laugh with you. 

Lys. — — Ridentem dicere verum 

£hiidvetat ? 

This partition of our kind into men and human creatures, 
puts me in mind of another notion broached by one of our 
club, whom we ufed to call the Pythagorean. 

XXXIII. He made a threefold partition of the human 
fpecies, into birds, beafts, and limes, being of opinion 
that the road of life lies upwards, in a perpetual afcent 
through the fcale of being : In fuch fort, that the fouls of 
infects, after death, make their fecond appearance in the 
fhape of perfect animals, birds, beafts, or fifties ; which, 
upon their death, are preferred into human bodies) and, 



[Dial. V.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 243 

in the next (cage, Into beings of a higher and more perfect 
kind. This man we considered at firft as a fort of here- 
tic; becaufe his fcherne feemed not to confift with our 
fundamental tenet, the mortality of the foul : But he juf- 
tified the notion to be innocent, in af much as it included 
nothing of reward or punifhment, and was not proved by 
any argument, which fuppofed or implied either incorpo- 
real fpirit, or Providence, being only inferred, by way of 
analogy, from what he had obferved in human affairs, 
the court, the church, and .the army; wherein the ten- 
dency is always upwards from lower pods to higher. Ac- 
cording to this fyftem, the fifhes are thofe men who fwim 
in pleafure, fuch as petit s maitres, bons vivans, and honed 
fellows. The beafts are dry, drudging, covetous, 
rapacious folk, and all thofe adi£ted to care and bufmefs 
like oxen, and other dry land animals, which fpend their 
lives in labor and fatigue. The birds are airy, notional 
men, enthufiafts, projectors, poets, philofophers, and 
i'uch like. In each fpecies every individual retaining a 
tincture of his former ftate, which conftitutes what is 
called genius. If you afk me which fpecies of mankind 
I like beft, I anfwer, the flying fifh : that is, a man of 
animal enjoyment, with a mixture of whim. Thus you 
fee we have our creeds and our fyftems, as well as graver 
folks : with this difference, that they are not ftrait-laced, 
but fit eafy, to be flipped ofT or on, as humour or occafion 
ferves. And now I can, with the greateft equinimity 
imaginable, hear my opinions argued againft, or confuted. 

XXXIV. Alc. — It were to be wimed all men were of 
that mind. But you (hall find a fort of men, whom I 
need not name, that cannot bear with the leaft temper, to 
have their opinions examined, or their faults cenfured. — 
They are againft reafon, becaufe reafon is againft them. 
Tor our pnrts, we are all for liberty of confcien.ce. If 



244 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. V.] 

our tenets are abfurd, we allow them to be freely argued 
and infpecfced : and, by a parity of reafon, we might hope 
to be allowed the fame privilege, with refpeft to the opi- 
nions of other men. 

Cri.— - O Alclphron ! "Wares that will not bear the 
light are juftly to be fufpecled. Whatever, therefore, 
moves you to make this complaint, take my word, I never 
will : But as hitherto I have allowed your reafon its full 
fcope, fo for the future I always fhall. And, though I 
cannot approve of railing or declaiming, not even in my- 
felf, whenever you have fhewed me the way to it : yet 
this I will anfwer for, that you fhall ever be allowed to 
reafon as clofely and as itrenuoufly as you can. But, for 
the love of truth, be candid, and do not fpend your 
itrength, and our time, in points of no fignificancy, or 
foreign to the purpofe, or agreed between us. We al- 
low that tyranny and flavery are bad things : but why 
iliould we apprehend them from the clergy at this time ? 
Rites and ceremonies, we own, are not points of chief 
moment in religion : but why fhould we ridicule things, 
in their own nature, at leaft indifferent, and which bear 
the ftamp of fupreme authority ? That men, in divinity, 
as well as other fubje£ts, are perplexed with ufelefs dis- 
putes, and are like to be fo as long as the world lafts, I 
freely acknowledge : But why mufl all the human weak- 
nefs and miftakes of clergymen be imputed to wicked de- 
igns ? Why indifcriminately abufe their character and 
tenets ? Is this like candor, love of truth, free-thinking? 
It is granted there may be found, now and then, fpleen 
and ill-breeding in the clergy : But are not the fame faults 
incident to Englijh laymen, of a retired education and 
country life ? I grant there is infinite futility in the 
fchoolmen : But I deny that a volume of that doth fo 
much mifchief, as a page of Minute Philofophy. That 
weak or wicked men fhould, by favor of the world, creep 



[Dial. V.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 24c 

into power and high flations in the church, is nothing 
wonderful : and that, in fuch ftations, they mould behave 
like themfelves, is natural to fuppofe. But all the while 
it is evident, that not the gofpel, but the world ; not the 
fpirit, but the flefti ; not God, but the devil, puts them up- 
on their unworthy achievements. We make no difficulty 
to grant, that nothing is more infamous than vice and ig- 
norance in a clergyman ; nothing more bafe than a hypo- 
crite, more frivolous than a pedant, more cruel than an 
inquintor. But it muft alfo be granted by you, gentle- 
men, that nothing is more ridiculous and abfurd, than 
for pedantic, ignorant and corrupt men, to call the firft 
ftone, at every fhadow of their own defects and vices in 
other men. 

XXXV. Alc— When I confider the deteftable flate of 
flavery and fuperftition, I feel my heart dilate and expand 
itfelf to grafp that ineftimable blefling of independent 
liberty. This is the facred and high prerogative, the very 
life and health of our Englijb conftitution. You muft 
not, therefore, think it flrange, if with a vigilant and curi- 
ous eye, we guard it againft the minuteft appearance of 
evil. You muft even fuffer us to cut round about, and 
very deep, and make ufe of the magnifying glafs, the bet- 
ter to view and extirpate every the leaft fpeck, which 
fhall difcover itfelf in what we are careful and jealous to 
preferve, as the apple of our eye. 

Cri. — As for unbounded liberty, I leave it to favages, 
among whom alone I believe it is to be found : But, for 
the reafonable legal liberty of our conftitution, I moft 
heartily and fincerely wifh it may for ever fubfift and 
flourilh among us. You and all other Rnglifimen cannot 
be too vigilant, or too earned, to preferve this goodly 
frame, or to curb and difappoint the wicked ambition 
of whoever, layman or ecclefiaftic, fhall attempt to 
change our free and gentle government into a flavifh or 



246 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. V.] 

fevere one. But what pretext can this afford for your 
attempts againft religion, or indeed, how can it be con- 
fident with them ? Is not the proteftant religion a main 
part of our legal conftitution ? I remember to have heard 
a foreigner remark, that we of this ifland were very good 
proteftants, but no chriftians. But whatever Minute Phi- 
lofophers may wifh, or foreigners fay, it is certain our 
laws fpeak a different language. 

Alc. — This puts me in mind of the wife reafoning of a 
certain fage magistrate, who, being preffed by the raillery 
and arguments of an ingenious man, had nothing to fay 
for his religion, but that ten millions of people, inhabiting 
the fame ifland, might, whether right or wrong, if they 
thought good, eftablifh laws for the worfliipping of God 
in their temples, and appealing to him in their courts of 
juftice. And that in cafe ten thoufand ingenious men 
fhould publicly deride and trample on thofe laws, it might 
be juft and lawful for the faid ten millions to expel the 
faid ten thoufand ingenious men out of their faid ifland. 

Euph.— And pray, what anfwer would you make to 
this remark of the fage magiftrate ? 

Alc. — The anfwer is plain. By the law of nature, 
which is fuperior to all pofitive inftitutions, wit and knowl- 
edge have a right to command folly and ignorance. I fay, 
ingenious men have, by natural right, a dominion over fools. 

Euph, — What dominion over the laws and people of 
Great Britain, Minute Philofophers may be in titled to by 
nature, I (hall not difpute, but leave to be confidered by 
the public. 

Alc — This doftrine, it muft be owned, was never 
thoroughly underftood before our own times. In the lafl 
age, Hobbes and his followers, though other wife very 
great men, declared for the religion of the magiftrate j 
Probably becaufe they were afraid of the magiftrate : But 
times are changed, and the magiftrate may now be afraid 
cf us. 



[Dial. V.] MINUT&- PHILOSOPHER. 247 

Cri. — I allow the magiftrate may well be afraid of you 
in one fenfe, I mean afraid to truft you. This brings to 
my thoughts a paffage on the trial of Leander for a capital 
offence. That gentleman having picked out and excluded 
from his jury, by peremptory " exception, all but fome 
men of fafhion and pleafure, humbly moved, when Dorcon 
was going to kifs the book, that he might be required to 
declare upon honour, whether he believed either God or gof- 
pel. Dorcon, rather than hazard his reputation as a man of 
honour and free-thinker, openly avowed, that he believed in 
neither. Upon which, the court declared him unfit to ferve 
on a jury. By the fame reafon, fo many were fet afide, as 
made it neceffary to put off the trial. We are very eafy, 
replied Alciphron, about being trufted to ferve on juries, 
if we can be admitted to ferve in lucrative employments. 

Cri. — But what if the government mould injoin, that 
every one, before he is fworn into office, fhould make the 
fame declaration which Dorcon was required to make ? 

Alc. — God forbid ! I hope there is no fuch defign on 
foot. 

Cri. — Whatever defigns may be on foot, thus much is 
certain ; the chriftian reformed religion is a principal 
part and corner-ftone of our free conftitution ; and I ver- 
ily think, the only thing that makes us deferving of free- 
dom, or capable of enjoying it. Freedom is either a 
bleffing or a cure, as men ufe it. And to me it feems, 
that if our religion were once deftroyed from among us, 
and thofe notions, which pafs for prejudices of a chriftian 
education, erafed from the minds of Britons, thebeft thing 
that could befal us would be the lofs of our freedom. 
— Surely a people wherein there is fuch reftlefs am- 
bition, fuch high fpirits, fuch animofity of faction, fo 
great imerefts in conteft, fuch unbounded licence of fpeech 
and prefs, amidft fo much wealth and°luxury, nothing 
but thofe veteres avia, which you pretend to extirpate, 
could have hitherto kept from ruin. 



a 4 8 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. V.] 

XXXVI. Under the chriftian religion this nation hath 
been greatly improved. From a fort of favages we have 
grown civil, polite, and learned. We have made a de- 
cent and noble figure, both at home and abroad. And, as 
our religion decreafeth, I am afraid we (hall be found to 
have declined. Why then mould we perfift in the dan- 
gerous experiment ? 

Alc— One would think, Crito, you had forgot the 
many calamities occafioned by churchmen and religion. 

Cri. — And one would think, you had forgot what was 
anfwered this very day to that objection. But not to repeat 
eternally the fame things, I (hall obferve in the firft place, 
that if we reflect on the pafl ftate of chriftendom, and of 
our own country in particular, with our feuds and factions 
fubfifting, while we were all of the fame religion, for in- 
ftance, that of the white and red rofes, fo violent and 
bloody, and of fuch long continuance ; we can have no 
aflurance that thofe ill humors, which have fince ftiewn 
themfelves under the mafk of religion, would not have 
broke out with fome other pretext, if this had been want- 
ing. I obferve in the fecond place, that it will not fol- 
low, from any obfervations you can make on our hiftory, 
that the evils, accidentally occafioned by religion, bear 
any proportion either to the good effects it hath really pro- 
duced, or the evils it hath prevented. Laftly, I obferve, 
that the beft things may, by accident, be the occafion of 
evil ; which accidental effect is not, to fpeak properly and 
truly, produced by the good thing itfelf, but by fome evil 
thing, which, being neither part, property, nor effect of 
it, happens to be joined with it. But I mould be afham- 
ed to infifl; and enlarge on fo plain a point. Certainly 
whatever evils this nation might have formerly fuftained 
from fuperftition, no man of common fenfe will fay, the 
evils felt, or apprehended at prefent, are from that quarter. 
Pr left craft is not the reigning diftemper at this day. And 



[Dial. V.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 249 

it will be owned, that a wife man, who takes upon him to 
be vigilant for the public weal, mould touch proper things 
at proper times, and not prefcribe for a furfeit when the 
diftemper is a confumption. 

Alc. — I think we have fufficiently difcufied the fub- 
je£r. of this day's conference. And now, let Lv fides take 
it as he will, I muft, in regard to my own character, as a 
fair impartial adverfary, acknowledge there is fomething 
in what Crito hath faid, upon the ufefulnefs of the chrif- 
tian religion. I will even own to you that fome of our 
feet are for allowing it a toleration. I remember, at a 
meeting of feveral ingenious men, after much debate we 
came fucceffively to divers refolutions. The firft was, 
that no religion ought to be tolerated in the ftate : But 
this, on more mature thought, was judged impracticable. 
The fecond was, that all religions fhould be tolerated, but 
none countepanced except atheifm : But it was apprehend- 
ed, that this might breed contentions among the lower 
fort of people. We came, therefore, to conclude, in the 
third place, that fome religion or other fhould be eftab- 
Hfhed for the ufe of the vulgar. And after a long difpute 
what this religion fhould be, Lyfis, a brifk young man, 
perceiving no figns of agreement, propofed, that the 
prefent religion might be tolerated, till a better was found. 
But allowing it to be expedient, I can never think it true, 
fo long as there lie unanfwerable objections againft it s 
which, if you pleafe, I fhall take the liberty to propofe 
at our next meeting. To which we all agreed. 

H h 



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THE 



SIXTH DIALOGUE. 

Points agreed. II. Sundry Pretences to Revelation. III. 
Uncertainty of Tradition. IV. Object and Ground of 
Faith. V. Some Books difputed, others evidently fpurious. 
VI. Stile and Gompofition of Holy Scripture. VII. Dif- 
ficulties occurring therein. VIII. Obfcurity not always a 
Defect. IX. Infpiration neither impoffible nor abfurd. 
X. Objections from the Form and Matter of Divine Rev- 
elation, confidered. XI. Infidelity an Efifecl of Narrow- 
nefs and Prejudice. XII. Articles of Chrifiian Faith not 
unreajonable. XIII. Guilt the natural Parent of Fear, 
XIV. Things unknown, reduced to the Standard of what 
Men know. XV. Prejudices againfi the Incarnation of 
the Son of God. XVI. Ignorance of the divine Econo- 
my, a Source of Difficulties. XVII. Wifdom of God, 
Foolifimefs to Man. XVIII. Reafon, no blind Guide. 
XIX. Uffulnefs of Divine Revelation. XX. Prophe- 
cies, whence ebjeure. XXI. Eafierh Accounts of time 
elder than the Mofaic. XXII. The Humor of Egyptians, 
AfTyrians, Chaldeans, and other Nations extending their 
Antiquity beyond Truth, accounted for. XXIII. Reafons 
confirming the Mofaic Account. XXIV. Profane Hiflo- 
rians inconfijlent. XXV. Celfus, Prophyry, and Jul- 
ian. XXVI. The tefiimony of Jofephus confidered. 

XXVII. Attefiation of Jews and Gentiles to Chrifiianity. 

XXVIII. Forgeries and Herefies. XXIX. Judgment 
and Attention of Minute Philofopher s . XXX. Faith and 
Miracles. XXXI. Probable Arguments a fujficient 
Ground of Faith. XXXII. The Chrijlian Religion able 
to fiand the Tcfi of rational Inquiry. 



[DIAL. VI.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 251 

JL HE following day being Sunday, our philofophers 
lay long in bed, while the relt of us went to church in 
the neighboring town, where we dined at Eiiphranor's, 
and after evening fervice returned to the two philofophers, 
whom we found in the library. They told us, that, if 
there was a God, he was prefent every where, as well as 
at church ; and that if we had been ferving him one way, 
they did not neglect to do as much another ; inafmuch as 
a free exercife of reafon muft be allowed the mod accept- 
able fervice and worfhip, that a rational creature can of- 
fer to its Creator. However, faid Aldphron^ if you, 
gentlemen, can but folve the difficulties which I {hall pro- 
pofe to-morrow morning, I promife to go to church next 
Sunday. After forne general converfation of this kind, 
we fat down to a light fupper, and the next morning af- 
fembled at the fame place, as the day before : Where be- 
ing all feated, I obferved, that the foregoing week our 
conferences had been carried on for a longer time, and 
with lefs interruption than I had ever known, or well 
could be, in town : Where men's hours are fo broken by 
vifits, bulinefs, and amufements, that whoever is content 
to form his notions from converfation only, muft needs 
have them very mattered and imperfect. And what have 
we got, replied Alciphron, by all thefe continued confer- 
ences ? For my part, I think myfelf jufl where I was, 
with refpe£t to the main point that divides us, the truth 
of the chriftian religion. I anfwered : That fo many 
points had been examined^ difcufTed, and agreed between 
him and his adverfaries, that I hoped to fee them come 
to an intire agreement in the end, For, in the firft place, 
laid I, |dhe principles and opinions of thofe who are called 
free-thinkers, or Minute Philofophers, have been pretty 
clearly explained. It hath been alfo agreed, that vice is 
not of that benefit to the nation, which fome men ima- 



2 5 2 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. VI.] 

gine : That virtue is highly ufeful to mankind : But that 
the beauty of virtue is not alone fumcientto engage them 
in the pra£tife of it : That therefore the belief of a God 
and Providence ought to be encouraged in the ftate, and 
tolerated in good company, as an ufeful notion. Further, 
it hath been proved that there is a God : That it is reafon- 
able to worfhip him : And that the worfhip, faith, and 
principles prefcribed by the chriflian religion have an ufe- 
ful tendency. Admit, replied Alciphron, addreffing him- 
felf to \Crito, all that Didn faith to be true, yet this 
doth not hinder my being juft where I was, with refpecl: 
to the main point. Since there is nothing in all this that 
proves the truth of the chriftian religion : Though each 
of thofe particulars enumerated, may, perhaps, prejudice 
in its favor. I am therefore to fufpeel; myfelf at prefent 
for a prejudiced perfon ; prejudiced, I fay, in favor of 
chriftianity. This, as I am a lover of truth, puts me up- 
on my guard againft deception. I muft therefore look 
fharp, and well confider every ftep I take. 

II. Cri. — You may remember, Alciphron, you propo- 
{td for the fubjeel: of our prefent conference the consider- 
ation of certain difficulties and objections, which you had 
to offer againft the chriftian religion. We are now ready 
to hear and confider whatever you fhali think fit to produce 
of that kind. Atheifm, and a wrong notion of chrif- 
tianity, as of fomething hurtful to mankind, are great 
prejudices ; the removal of which may difpofe a man to 
argue with candor, and fubmit to reafonable proof: But 
the removing prejudices againft an opinion, is not to be 
reckoned prejudicing in its favor. It may be hoped there- 
fore, that you will be able to do juftice to your" caufe, 
■Without being fond of it. 

Alc— O Onto! That man may thnak his ftars to whom 
nature hath given a fublime fou^, who can raife himfelf 



[Dial. VI.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 253 

above popular opinions, and, looking down on the herd 
of mankind, behold them Scattered over the furface of 
the whole earth, divided and fubdivided into numberlefs 
nations and tribes, differing in notions and tenets, as in 
language, manners, and drefs. The man who takes a 
general view of the world and its inhabitants, from this 
lofty ftand, above the reach of prejudice, feems to breathe 
a purer air, and to fee by a clearer light : But how to im- 
part this clear and extenfive view to thofe who are wan- 
dering beneath in the narrow dark paths of error. This 
indeed is a hard talk : Yet hard as it is, I fhall try if by 
any means, 

Clara tux pojfim prapandere lumina menti. Lucret. 

Know then, that all the various cafts or feels of the fons 
of men have each their faith, and their religious fyftem, 
germinating and fprouting forth from that common grain 
of enthufiafm, which is an original ingredient in the com- 
position of human nature. They fhall each tell of inter- 
courfe with the invihble world, revelations from Heaven, 
divine oracles, and the like. All which pretentions, when 
I regard with an impartial eye, it is impoflible I fhould af- 
fent to all, and I find within myfelf fomething that with- 
holds me from affenting to any of them. For although 
I may be willing to follow, fo far as common fenfe and 
the light of nature lead ; yet the fame reafon, that bids 
me yield to rational proof, forbids me to admit opinions 
without proof. This holds in general againft all revela- 
tions whatfoever. And be this my firft obje&ion againft 
the chriftian in particular. - 

Cri. — As this objection fuppofes there is no proof or 
reafon for believing the chriltian revelation, if good rea- 
fon can be afligncd for fuch belief, it comes to nothing. 
Now I prefume you will grant, the authority of the re- 



254 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. VI.] 

porter is a true and proper reafon for believing reports : 
And the better this authority, the jufter claim it hath to 
our aflent : But the authority of God, is, on all accounts, 
the beft : "Whatever, therefore, comes from God, it is 
moft reafonable to believe. 

III. Alc. — This I grant, but then it muft be proved 
to come from God. 

Cri. — And are not miracles, and the accomplimments 
of prophecies, joined with the excellency of its doctrines, 
a fufhcient proof that the chriftian religion came from 
God? 

Alc. — Miracles, indeed, would prove fomething ; but 
what proof have we of thefe miracles ? 

Cri. — Proof of the fame kind that we have, or can 
have, of any fa£ts done a great way off, and a long time 
ago. We have authentic accounts tranfmitted down to 
us from eye-witnefles, whom we cannot conceive tempt- 
ed to impofe upon us by any human motive whatfoever : 
inafmuch as they acted therein contrary to their interefts, 
their prejudices, and the very principles in which they 
had been nurfed and educated. Thefe accounts were 
confirmed by the unparalleled fubverfion of the city of 
jerufalem, and the difperfion of the Jeivijh nation, which 
is a {landing teftimony to the truth of the gofpel, particu- 
larly of the predictions of our blened Saviour. Thefe 
accounts, within lefs then a century, were fpread through- 
out the world, and believed by great numbers of people. 
Thefe fame accounts were committed to writing, tranfla- 
ted into feveral languages, and handed down with the 
fame refpecl and confent of chrifhians in the moft diftant 
churches. Do you not fee, faid Alciphron> flaring full 
at Crito> that all this hangs by tradition ? And tradition, 
take my word for it, gives but a weak hold : It is a 
chain, whereof the firft links may be flronger than fteel, 



[Dial. VI.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 255 

and yet the laft weak as wax, and brittle as glafs. Ima- 
gine a picture copied fucceffively by an hundred painters, 
one from another ; how like muft the laft copy be to the 
original ! How lively and diftin£r. will an image be, af- 
ter an hundred reflexions between two parallel mirrours ! 
Thus like, and thus lively, do I think a faint vaniftiing 
tradition, at the end of fixteen or feventeen hundred 
years. Some men have a* falfe heart, others a wrong 
head : and where both are true, the memory may be 
treacherous. Hence there is ftill fomething added, fome- 
thing omitted, and fomething varied from the truth : 
And the fum of many fuch additions, deductions and al- 
terations, accumulated for feveral ages, doth, at the foot 
of the account, make quite another thing. 

Cri. — Ancient fafts we may know by tradition, oral 
or written : And this latter we may divide into two kinds, 
private and public, as writings are kept in the hands of 
particular men, or recorded in public archives. Now all 
thefe three forts of tradition, for ought I can fee, concur 
to atteft the genuine antiquity of the gofpels. And they 
arc ftrengthened by collateral evidence from rites inftitu- 
ted, feftivals obferved, and monuments erected by anci- 
ent chriftians, fuch as churches, baptifteries, and fepul- 
chres. Now, allowing your objection holds againft oral 
tradition, fingly taken, yet I can think it no fuch difficult 
thing to tranfcribe faithfully. And things once commit- 
ted to writing, are fecure from flips of memory, and may 
with common care be preferved intire fo long as the manu- 
fcriptlafts : And this, experience fhews, may be above a 
thoufand years. The Alexandrine manufcript is allowed 
to be above twelve hundred yeras old : and it is highly 
probable there were then extant copies four hundred years 
old. A tradition, therefore, of above fixteen hundred 
year*, need have only two or three links in its chain.— 
And thefe links, notwith (landing that great length of 



2$6 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. VL] 

time, may be very found and intire. Since no reafona- 
ble man will deny, that an ancient manufcript may be of 
much the fame credit now, as when it was firft written. 
We have it on good authority, and it feems probable that 
the primitive chriftians were careful to tranfcribe copies 
of the gofpels and epiftles for their private ufe : and that 
other copies were preferved as public records, in the feve- 
ral churches throughout the world : and that portions 
thereof were conftantly read in their afiemblies. Can 
more be faid to prove the writings of claflic authors, or 
ancient records of any kind, authentic ? Alciphron y ad- 
dreffing his difcourfe to Euphranor, faid, it is one thing 
to filence an adverfary, and another to convince him. — 
What do you think, Euphranor r 

Euph. — Doubtlefs it is. 

Alc — But what I want is, to be convinced. 

Euph. — That point is not fo clear. 

Alc. — But if a man had ever fo much mind, he can- 
not be convinced by probable arguments againft demon- 
ftration. 

Euph. — I grant he cannot. 

IV. Alc. — Now it is as evident as demonftration can 
make it, that no divine faith can pombly be built upon 
tradition. Suppofe an honeft credulous countryman ca- 
techifed and le&ured every Sunday by his parifh-prieft : 
it is plain he believes in the parfon, and not in God. He 
knows nothing of revelations, and doctrines, and mira- 
cles, but what the prieft tells him. This he believes, 
and this faith is purely human. If you fay he has the 
liturgy and the bible for the foundation of his faith, the 
difficulty ftill recurs. For, as to the liturgy, he pins his 
faith upon the civil magiflrate, as well as the ecclefiaftic, 
neither of which can pretend divine infpiration. Then 
for the bible, he takes both that and his prayer book on 



[Dial. VI] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 257 

truft from the printer, who, he believes, made true edi- 
tions from true copies. You fee then faith, but what 
faith ? Faith in the prieft, in the magiftrate, in the 
printer, editor, tranfcriber, none of which can, with 
any pretence, be called divine. I had the hint from Cra- 
tylus : it is a fhaft out of his quiver, and, believe me, a 
keen one. 

Euph. — Let me take and make trial of this fame fhaft 
in my hands. Suppofe then your countryman hears the 
magiftrate declare the law from the bench, or fuppofe 
he reads it in a ftatute book. What think you, is the 
printer, or the juftice, the true and proper objecT: of his 
faith and fubmiflion ? Or do you acknowledge a higher 
authority whereon to found thofe royal ac~ts, and in which 
they do really terminate ? Again, fuppofe you read a 
paflage in Tacitus that you believe true \ would you fay 
you aflented to it on the authority of the printer, or tranf- 
criber, rather than the hiftorian ? 

Alc — Perhaps I would, and perhaps I would not. 
I do not think myfelf obliged to anfwer thefe points. 
What is this but transfering the queftion from one 
fubjecl: to another ? That which we confidered was 
neither law nor profane hiftory, but religious tradition, 
and divine faith. I fee plainly what you aim at, but mall 
never take for an anfwer to one difficulty, the ftarting of 
another. 

Cri. — O Alciphron, there is no taking hold of you, 
who expect that others mould (as you were pleafed to 
exprefs it) hold fair and ftand firm, while you plucked 
out their prejudices : How (hall he argue with you, but 
from your conceffions, and how can he know what you 
grant, except you will be pleafed to tell him ? 

Euph. — But, to fave you the trouble, for once I will 
fuppofe an anfwer. My queftion admits but of two an- 
fwers : take your choice. From the one it will follow, 

Ii 



258 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. VI.] 

that by a parity of reafon, we can eafily conceive, how a 
man may have divine faith, though he never felt infpira- 
tion, or faw a miracle : inafmuch as it is equally poflible 
for the mind, through whatever conduit, oral or fcriptu- 
ral, divine revelation be derived, to carry its thought and 
fubmiflion up to the fource, and terminate its faith, not 
in human, but divine authority : not in the inftrument or 
veffel of conveyance, but in the great origin itfelf, as its 
proper and true object. From the other anfwer it will 
follow, that you introduce a general fcepticifm into hu- 
man knowledge, and break down the hinges on which 
civil government, and all the affairs of the world, turn 
and depend. In a word, that you would deftroy human 
faith, to get rid of divine. And how this agrees with 
your profeffing that you want to be convinced, I leave 
you to confider. 

V. Alc. — I mould in earneft be glad to be convinced 
one way or other, and come to fome conclufion. But I 
have fo many objections in (lore, you are not to count 
much upon getting over one. Depend on it, you (hall 
find me behave like a gentleman and lover of truth. I 
will propofe my objections briefly and plainly, and ac- 
cept of reafonable anfwers as faft as you can give them. 
Come, Euphranor, make the mofl of your tradition : you 
can never make that a conftant and univerfal one, which 
is acknowledged to have been unknown, or at beft difput- 
ed in the church for feveral ages : And this is the cafe of 
the canon of the New Teftament. For*though we have 
now a canon, as they call it, fettled j yet every one muft 
fee and own, that tradition cannot grow ftronger by age ; 
and that what was uncertain in the primitive times, Can- 
not be undoubted in the fubfequent. What fay you to 
this, Euphranor f 

Euph. — I mould be glad to conceive your meaning clear- 
ly before I return an anfwer. It feems to me this objec- 



[Dial. VI.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 259 

tion of yours fuppofeth, that where a tradition hath been 
conftant and undifputed, fuch tradition may be admitted 
as a proof ; but that where the tradition is defective, the 
proof muft be fo too. Is this your meaning ? 

Alc. — It is. 

Euph. — Confequently the gofpels and epiftles of Saint 
Paul, which were univerfally received in the beginning, 
and never fince doubted of by the church, muft, not- 
withilanding this objection, be in reafon admitted as ge- 
nuine. And if thefe books contain, as they really do, 
all thofe points that come into controverfy between you 
and me, what need I difpute with you about the authority 
of fome other books of the New Teftament, which came 
later to be generally known and received in the church ? 
If a man affents to the undifputed books, he is no longer 
an infidel \ though he mould not hold the Revelations, or 
the epiftle of Saint James or Jude, or the latter of Saint 
Peter, or the two laft of Saint John, to be canonical.-— 
The additional authority of thefe portions of Holy Scrip- 
ture may have its weight, in particular controverfies be- 
tween chriftians, but can add nothing to arguments a- 
gainft an infidel, as fuch. Wherefore, though I believe 
a fubfequent age might clear up what was obfcure or du- 
bious in a foregoing, and that good reafons may be af- 
figned for receiving thefe books, yet thofe reafons feem 
now befide our purpofe. When you are a chriftian, it 
will be then time enough to argue this point. And you 
will be the nearer, being fo, if the way be fhortened by 
omitting it for the prefent. 

Alc— Not fo near neither, as you perhaps imagine : 
For, notwithstanding all the fair and plaufible things you 
may fay about tradition, when I confider the fpirit of for- 
gery which reigned in the primitive times, and refiecl: on 
the feveral gofpels, a£ts, and epiftles, attributed to the 
apoftles, which yet are acknowledged to be fpurious, I 
confefs I cannot help fufpecting the whole. 



2<5o MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. VI.] 

Euph. — Tell me, AIciphron y do you fufpedt all P/ato's 
writings for Spurious, becaufe the dialogue upon death, 
for inftance, is allowed to be fo ? Or will you admit none 
of Tul/y's writings to be genuine, becaufe Sigonius impof- 
ed a book of his own writing for TuIIy's treatife de Confo- 
latione, and the impofture pafled for Some time on the 
world ? 

Alc. — Suppofe I admit for the works of Tully and. 
Plato thofe that commonly pafled for fuch. What then ? 

Euph. — Why then I would fain know, whether it be 
equal and impartial in a free-thinker, to meafure the cred- 
ibility of profane and facred books by a different rule- 
Let us know upon what foot we chriftians are to argue 
with Minute Philosophers : Whether we may be allowed 
the benefit of common maxims in logic and criticifm ? 
If we may, be pleafed to aflign a reafon why fuppofiti- 
tious writings, which in the ftile, and manner, and matter, 
bear vifible marks of impofture, and have accordingly 
been rejected by the church, can be made an argument 
againft thofe which have been univerfally received, and 
handed down by an unanimous conftant tradition. I 
know nothing truly valuable that hath not been counter- 
feited : Therefore this argument is univerfal : But that 
which concludes againft all things is to be admitted againft 
none. There have been in all ages, and in all great Socie- 
ties of men, many capricious, vain, or wicked impoftors, 
who, for different ends, have abufed the world by fpurious 
writings, and created work for critics both in profane and 
facred reaming. And it would feem as filly to rejecl: the 
true writings of profane authors for the fake of the fpu- 
rious, as it would feem unreasonable to fuppofe, that 
among the heretics and Several feels of chriftians, there 
fhould be none capable of the like impofture. 

Alc — I fee no means for judging : It is all dark and 
doubtful, mere guefs-rwerk, at fo great a diftance of time. 



[Dial. VI.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 261 

Cri. — But if I know, that a number of fit perfons met 
together in council, did examine and diftinguifh authen- 
tic writings from fpurious, relating to a point of the 
higheft concern, in an age near the date of thofe wri- 
tings ; though I at the diftance of many more centuries 
had no other proof; yet their deciihon may be of weight 
to determine my judgment. Since it is probable they 
might have had feveral proofs and reafons for what they 
did, and not at all improbable, that thofe reafons might 
be loft in fo long a tract of time. * 

VI. Alc. — But, be the tradition ever fo well attefted, 
and the books ever fo genuine, yet I cannot fuppofe them 
wrote by perfons divinely infpired, fo long as I fee in 
them certain characters inconfiftent with fuch a fuppofi- 
tion. Surely the pureft language, the molt perfect ftile, 
the exacted method, and, in a word, all the excellencies of 
good writing, might be expected in a piece compofed or 
dictated by the Spirit of God : But books, wherein we 
find the reverfe of all this, it were impious, not to reject, 
but to attribute to the divinity. 

Euph. — Say, Alciphron, are the lakes, the rivers, or 
the ocean bounded by ftraight lines ? Are the hills and 
mountains exact: cones or pyramids ? Or the ftars caft in- 
to regular figures ? 

Alc — They are not. 

Euph. — But in the works of infects, we may obferve 
figures as exact as if they were drawn by the rule and 
compafs. 

Alc. — We may. 

Euph. — Should it not fcem, therefore, that a regular 
exactnefs, or fcrupulous attention to what men call the 
rules of art, is not obferved in the great productions of 
the author of nature ? 

Alc. — It fnould. 

* Vide Can. Ix. Council. Laodicen. 



262 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. VI.] 

Euph.— —And when a great prince declareth his will in 
laws and edicts to his fubje&s, is he careful about 3 s pure 
ftile, or elegant compofition ? Does he not leave his fecre- 
taries and clerks to exprefs his fenfe in their own words ? 
Is not the phrafe, on fuch occafions, thought proper, if it 
conveys as much as was intended ? And would not the 
divine ftrain of certain modern critics be judged affe&ed 
and improper for fuch ufes ? 

Alc— It muft be owned, laws, and edicts, and grants, 
for folcecifm and tautology, are very offennve to the har- 
monious ears of an ingenious man. 

Euph. — Why then mould we expect in the oracles of 
God an exa&nefs, that would be mifbecoming and be- 
neath the dignity of an earthly monarch, and which 
bears no proportion, or refemblance, to the magnificent 
works of the creation ? 

Alc. ; — But granting that a nice regard to particles and 
critical rules is a thing too little and mean to be expected 
in divine revelations ; and that there is more force, and 
fpirit, and true greatnefs, in a negligent unequal ftile, than 
in the well turned periods of a polite writer : Yet what 
is all this to the bald and flat compofitions of thofe you 
call the divine penmen ? I can never be perfuaded, the 
Supreme Being would pick out the pooreft and meaneft of 
fcriblers for his fecretaries. 

Euph. — O Alciphron^ if I durft follow my own judg- 
ment, I mould be apt to think there are noble beauties in 
the ftile of the Holy Scripture : In the narrative parts, a 
ftrain fo fimple and unaffected : In the devotional and 
prophetic, fo animated and fublime : And in the doctri- 
nal parts, fuch an air of dignity and authority, as feems to 
fpeak their original divine. But I fhall not enter into a 
difpute about tafte ; much lefs fet up my judgment, on fo 
nice a point, againft that of the wits, and men of genius, 
with which your feci: abounds. And I have no tempta- 



[Dial. VI.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 263 

tion to it, inafmuch as it feems to me, the oracles of God 
are not the lefs fo for being delivered in a plain drefs, 
rather than in the enticing words of maris wifdom, 

Alc— This may perhaps be an apology for fome fim- 
plicity and negligence in writing. 

VII. But what apology can be made for nonfenfe, 
crude nonfenfe ? Of which I could eafily affign many in- 
ftances, having once in my life read the fcripture thorough 
with that very view. Look here, faid he, opening a bi- 
ble, in the forty-ninth Pfalm, the author begins very mag- 
nificently, calling upon all the inhabitants of the earth to 
give ear, and alluring them his mouth fhall fpeak of wif- 
dom, and the meditation of his heart fhall be of under- 
Handing. 

S$uid dignum tanto feret hie promijfor hiatu P 

He hath no fooner done with his preface, but he puts 
this fenfelefs queftion. * Wherefore mould I fear in the 
' days of evil ; when the wickednefs of my heels mail 
* compafs me about ?' The iniquity of my heels ! What 
nonfenfe after fuch a folemn introduction ! 

Euph. — For my own part, I have naturally weak eyes, 
and know there are many things that I cannot fee, which 
are neverthelefs diftinc~tly feen by others. I do not there- 
fore conclude a thing to be abfolutely invifible, becaufe it 
is fo to me. And fince it is poflible it may be with my 
underftanding, as it is with my eyes, I dare not pronounce 
a thing to be nonfenfe, becaufe I do not underftand it, 
Of this paffage many interpretations are given. The 
word rendered heels, may fignify fraud or fupplantation : 
By fome it is tranflated, paft wickednefs, the heel being 
the hinder part of the foot •, by others, iniquity in the end 
of my days, the heel being one extremity of the body \ 



264 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. VI.] 

by fome, the iniquity of my enemies that may fupplant 
me ; by others, my own faults or iniquities, which I have 
pafled over as light matters, and trampled under my feet. 
Some render it, the iniquity of my ways : Others, my 
tranfgreflions, which are like flips, and Hidings of the 
heel. 

And after all, might not the expreflion, fo harfh and 
odd to Englijh ears, have been very natural and obvious 
in the Hebrew tongue, which, as every other language, 
had its idioms ? the force and propriety whereof may as 
eafily be conceived loft in a long tracl: of time, as the fig- 
nification of divers Hebrew words, which are not now in- 
telligible, though nobody doubts but they had once a 
meaning, as well as the other words of that language. — - 
Granting, therefore, that certain paflages in the Holy 
Scripture may not be under flood, it will not thence fol- 
low, that its penmen wrote nonfenfe : For I conceive non- 
fenfe to be one thing, and unintelligible another. 

Cri.— -An Englijh gentleman of my acquaintance, one 
day entertaining fome foreigners at his houfe, fent a fer- 
vant to know the occafion of a fudden tumult in the 
yard, who brought him word the horfes were failed to- 
gether by the ears : His guefts inquiring what the matter 
was, he trariflated it literally, Les Chevaux font tombez en- 
femblepar les oreilles. Which made them ft are : what ex- 
preffed a very plain fenfe in the original Englijh^ being 
incomprehenfible when rendered, word for word, into 
French. And I remember to have heard a man excufe 
the bulls of his countrymen, by fuppofing them fo many 
literal tranflations. 

Euph. — But not to grow tedious, I refer to the critics 
and commentators, where you will find the ufe of this 
remark, which clearing up feveral obfcure paflages you 
took for nonfenfe, may poflibly incline you to fufpecl: 
your own judgment of the reft. In this very pfalm you 



[Dial. VI.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. tf s 

have pitched on, the goodfenfe and moral contained in what 
follows, mould, methinks, make a candid reader judge 
favorably of the original fenfe of the author, in that part 
which he could not underftand. Say, Alciphron, in read- 
ing the claflics, do you forthwith conclude every paflage 
to be nonfenfe that you cannot make fenfe of ? 

Alc. — By no means : Difficulties mull be fuppofed to 
rife from different idioms, old cuftoms, hints and illu- 
sions, clear in one time or place, and obfcure in archer. 

Euph. — And why will you not judge of fcripture by 
the fame rule ? Thofe fources of obfcurity you mention, 
are all common, both to facred and profane writings : 
And there is no doubt, but an exa£ter knowledge, in 
language, and circumftances, would, in both, caufe diffi- 
culties to vanifh, like (hades before the light of the fun. 
Jeremiah, to defcribe a furious invader, faith : Behold, he 
Jhall come up as a Lion from the fivelling of Jordan againjh 
the habitation of the Jlrong. One would be apt to think 
this paflage odd and improper, and that it had been more 
reafonable to have faid, a Lion from the mountain or the 
defert. But travellers, as an ingenious man obferves, who 
have feen the river Jordan, bounded by low lands with 
many reeds or thickets, affording fhelter to wild beads, 
(which being fuddenly diflodged by a rapid overflowing of 
the river, rufh into the upland country) perceive the force 
and propriety of the comparison •, and that the difficulty 
proceeds, not from nonfenfe in the writer, but from igno- 
rance in the reader. 

Alc. — Here and there a difficult paflage may be clear- 
ed : But there are many which no art or wit of man can 
account for. What fay you to thofe difcoveries, made 
by fome of our learned writers, of falfe citations from the 
Old Teftament found in the gofpel ? 

Euph. — That fome few paflages are cited by the writers 
of the New Teftament out of the Old, and by the fathers 

K k 



266 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. VI.} 

out of the New, which are not in fo many words to be 
found in them, is no new difcovery of Minute Philofo- 
phers, but was known and obferved long before by chrif- 
tian writers •, who have made no fcruple to grant, that 
fome things might have been inferted by carelefs or mifta- 
ken tranfcribers into the text, from the margin, others 
left out, and others altered ; whence fo many various 
readings. But thefe are things of fmall moment, and 
that.,, M other ancient authors have been fubjecl: to ; and 
upon which no point of doctrine depends, which may not 
be proved without them. Nay further, if it be any ad- 
vantage to your caufe, it hath been obferved, that the 
eighteenth Pfahn, as recited in the twenty-fecond chapter 
of the fecond book of Samuel, varies in above forty places, 
if you regard every little literal difference : And that a 
critic may now and then difcover fmall variations, is what 
nobody can deny. But to make the moll of thefe concef- 
fions, what can you infer from them, more than that the 
defign of the Holy Scripture was not to make us exactly 
knowing in circumltantials ? And that the fpirit did not 
dictate every particle and fyllable, or preferve them from 
every minute alteration by miracle ? which to believe, 
would look like rabbinical fuperftition. 

Alc. — But what marks of divinity can poffibly be in 
writings which do not reach the exactnefs even of human 
art ? 

Euph. — I never thought nor expected that the Holy 
Scripture mould fhew itfelf divine, by a circumftantial 
accuracy of narration, by exactnefs of method, by {tricl- 
ly obferving the rules of rhetoric, grammar* and criticifm, 
in harmonious periods, in elegant and choice expreflions, 
or in technical definitions and partitions. Thefe things 
would look too like a human compofition. Methinks 
there is in that fimple, unaffected, artlefs, unequal, bold, 
figurative flile of the Holy Scripture, a character fingu- 



TDial. VI.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 267 

larly great and majeftic, and that looks more like divine 
infpiration, than any other compofition that I know. 
But, as I faid before, I fhall not difpute a point of criti- 
cifm with the gentlemen of your feet, who, it feems, are 
the modern ftandard for wit and tafte. 

Alc. — Well I (hall not inGft on frrcall flips, or the in- 
accuracy of citing or tranfcribing : And I freely own, 
that repetitions, want of method, or want of exactnefs 
in circumftances, are not the things that chiefly ftick with 
me ; no more than the plain patriarchal manners, or the 
peculiar ufages and cuftoms of the Jews and firft chriftians, 
fo different from ours ; and that to reject the fcripture on 
fuch accounts would be to act like thofe French wits, who 
cenfure Horner^ becaufe they do not find in him the ftile, 
notions, and manners of their own age and country. 
Was there nothing elfe to divide us, I fhould make no 
great difficulty of owning, that a popular uncorrect ftile 
might anfwer the general ends of revelation, as well 
perhaps, as a more critical and exact one. But the ob- 
fcurity ftill flicks with me. Methinks if the Supreme 
Being had fpoke to man, he would have fpoke clearly to 
him, and that the word of God fhould not need a com- 
ment. 

VIII. Euph. — You feem, Alciphron> to think obfcuri- 
ty a defeat ; but if it fhould prove to be no defect, there 
would then be no force in this objection. 

Alc. — I grant there would not. 

Euph. — Pray tell me, are not fpcech and ftile inftru- 
mental to convey thoughts and notions, to beget knowledge, 
opinion, and affent ? 

Alc. — This is true. 

Euph. — And is not the perfection of an inftrument to 
be meafured by the ufe to which it is fubfervient ? 

Alc. — It is. 



268 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. VI.] 

Euph. — What, therefore, is a defect in one inftrument, 
may be none in another. For inftance, edged tools arc 
in general defigned to cut ; but the ufes of an axe and a 
razor being different, it is no defect in an axe, that it 
hath not the keen edge of a razor : Nor in the razor, that 
it hath not the weight or ftrength of an axe. 

Alc. — I acknowledge this to be true. 

Euph. — And may we not fay in general, that every 
inftrument is perfect which anfwers the purpofe or inten- 
tion of him who ufeth it ? 

Alc. — We may. 

Euph--— Hence it feems to follow, that no man's fpeech 
is defective in point of clearnefs, though it fhould not be 
intelligible to all men, if it be fufficiently fo to thofe, who 
he intended, mould underftand it : Or though it fhould 
not in all parts be equally clear, or convey a perfect knowl- 
edge, where he intended only an imperfeet hint. 

Alc. — It feems fo. 

Euph. — Ought we not, therefore, to know the intention 
of the fpeaker, to be able to know whether his ftile be ob- 
fcure through defecl or «|fen ? 

Alc — We ought. 

Euph! — But is it pofiible for man to know all the ends 
and purpofes of God's revelations ? 

Alc — It is not. 

Euph. — How then can you tell, but the obfcurity of 
fome parts of fcripture may well confift with the purpofe 
which you know not, and confequently be no argument 
againft its coming from God ? The books of Holy Scrip- 
ture were written in ancient languages, at diftant times, on 
fundry occafions, and very different fubjeclis. Is it not 
therefore reafonable to imagine, that fome parts or pafia- 
ges might have been clearly enough underftood by thofe, 
for whofe proper ufe they were principally defigned, and 
yet feem obfcure to us, who fpeak another language, and 



[Dial. VI.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 269 

live in other times ? Is it at all abfurd or unfuitable to the 
notion we have of God or man, to fuppofe that God may 
reveal, and yet reveal with a referve, upon certain remote 
and fublime fubjects, content to give us hints and glimpfes, 
rather than views ? May we not alfo fuppofe from the rea- 
fon of things, and the analogy of nature, that fome 
points, which might otherwife have been more clearly ex- 
plained, were left obfcure merely to encourage our dili- 
gence and modefty ? Two virtues, which, if it might 
not feem difrefpectful to fuch great men, I would recom- 
mend to the Minute Philofophers. Lyficks replied, this 
indeed is excellent : You expect that men of fenfe and 
fpirit mould in great humility put out their eyes, and 
blindly fwallow all the abfurdities and nonfenfe that mall 
be offered to them for divine revelation. 

Euph. — On the contrary, I would have them open 
their eyes, look fharply, and try the fpirit, whether it is 
of God : and not fupinely and ignorantly condemn in the 
grofs, all religions together, piety with fu perdition, truth 
for the fake of error, matter of fact for the fake of fic- 
tion : a conduct, which, at firft fight, would feem ab- 
furd in hiftory, phytic, or any other branch of human in- 
quiry ! But to compare the chriftian fyftem, or Holy 
Scriptures, with other pretences to divine revelation, to 
confider impartially the doctrines, precepts, and events 
therein contained ; weigh them in the balance with any 
other religious, natural, moral, or hiftorical accounts ; 
and diligently to examine all thofe proofs, internal and 
external, that for fo many ages have been able to influ- 
ence and perfuade fo many wife, learned, and inquifitive 
men : Perhaps they might find in it certain peculiar cha- 
racters, which fufHciently diftinguifh it from all other re- 
ligions and pretended revelations, whereon to ground a 
reafonable faith. In. which cafe I leave them to confider, 
whether it would be right to reject with peremptory fcorn, 



27<5 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. VI.] 

a revelation fo diftinguifhed and attefted, upon account 
of obfcurity in fome parts of it ? and whether it would 
feem beneath men of their fenfe and fpirit to acknowledge, 
that, for ought they know, a light inadequate to things, 
may yet be adequate to the purpofe of Providence ? and 
whether it might be unbecoming their fagacity, and cri- 
tical fkill, to own, that literal tranflations from books 
in an ancient oriental tongue, wherein there are fo many 
peculiarities, as to the manner of writing, the figures of 
fpeech, and the idioms fo remote from all our modern 
languages, and in which we have no other coeval writ- 
ings extant, might well be obfcure in many places, efpe- 
cially fuch as treat of fubje&s fublime and difficult in their 
own nature, or allude to things, cuftoms, or events, 
very diftant from our knowledge ? And laftly, whether 
it might not become their character, as impartial and un- 
prejudiced men, to confider the bible in the fame light 
they would profane authors ? Men are apt to make great 
allowance for tranfpofitions, omiflions, and literal errors 
of tranfcribers, in other ancient books, and very great 
for the difference of (tile and manners, efpecially in eaft- 
ern writings, fuch as the remains of Zoroajler and Confu- 
cius, and why not in the prophets ? In reading Horace 
or Perfiusy to make out the fenfe, they will be at the 
pains to difcover a hidden drama, and why not in Solomon 
or St. Paul ? I hear there are certain ingenious men, 
who defpife king David's poetry, and yet profefs to ad- 
mire Homer and Pindar, If there be no prejudice or af- 
fectation in this, let them but make a literal verfion from 
thofe authors into Englijh profe, and they will then be 
better able to judge of the pfalms. 

Alc — You may difcourfe and expatiate ; but notwith- 
standing all you have faid, or mall fay, it is a clear point, 
that a revelation which doth not reveal, can be no better 
than a contradiction in terms. 



[Dial. VI.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. %1 x 

Euph.-— Tell me, Alciphron y do you not acknowledge 
the light of the fun to be the mod glorious production of 
Providence in tl^ natural world ? 

Alc. — Suppoie I do. 

Euph. — This light, neverthelefs, which you cannot 
deny to be of God's making, fhines only on the furface 
of things, fhines not at all in the night, fhines imperfect- 
ly in the twilight, is often interrupted, refracted, and 
obfcured, reprefents diftant things, and fmall things du- 
bioufly, imperfectly, or not at all. Is this true or no ? 

Alc. — It is. 

Eupk. — Should it not follow, therefore, that to expect 
in this world a conftant uniform light from God, with- 
out any mixture of fhade or myftery, would be departing 
from the rule and analogy of the creation ? and that con- 
fequently it is no argument the light of revelation is not 
divine, becaufe it may not be fo clear and full as you ex- 
pect ; or becaufe it may not equally fhine at all times, or 
in all places. 

Alc — As I profefs myfelf candid and indifferent 
throughout this debate, I muft needs own you fay fome 
plaufible things, as a man of argument will never fail to 
do in vindication of his prejudices. 

IX. But, to deal plainly, I muft tell you once for all, 
that you may queftion and anfwer, illuftrate and enlarge 
forever, without being able to convince'me that the chrif- 
tian religion is of divine revelation. I have faid feveral 
things, and have many more to fay, which, believe me, 
have weight not only with myfelf, but with many great 
men, my very good friends, and will have weight, what- 
ever Euphranor can fay to the contrary. 

Euph, — O Alciphron ! I envy you thehappinefs of fuch 
acquaintance. But, as my lot fallen in this remote corn- 
er deprives me of that advantage, I am obliged to make 



a 7 * MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. VLJ 

the mod of this opportunity, which you and Lyftcles have 
put into my hands. I confider you as two able chirurge- 
ons, and you were pleafed to confider me as a patient, 
whofe cure you have generoufly undertaken. Now a pa- 
tient mult have full liberty to explain his cafe, and tell all 
his fymptoms, the concealing of which might prevent a 
perfect cure. You will be pleafed, therefore, to under- 
ftand me, not as objecting to, or arguing againft, either 
your {kill or medicines, but only as fetting forth my own 
cafe, and the effects they have upon me. Say, Alciphron, 
did you not give me to underftand, that you would ex- 
tirpate my prejudices ? 

Alc. — It is true : a good phyfician eradicates every 
fibre of the difeafe. Come, you mall have a patient hear- 
ing. 

Euph. — Pray, was it not the opinion of Plato, that 
God infpired particular men, as organs or trumpets, to 
proclaim and found forth his oracles to the world ? * And 
was not the fame opinion alfo embraced by others the 
greateft writers of antiquity ? 

Cri. — Socrates feems to have thought that all true po- 
ets, fpoke by infpiration •, and Tul/y, that there was no 
extraordinary genius without it. This hath made fome 
of our affected free-thinkers attempt to pafs themfelves 
upon the world for enthufiafts. 

Alc — What would you infer from all this ? 

Euph. — I would infer, that infpiration fhould feem 
nothing impofTible or abfurd, but rather agreeable to the 
light of reafon, and the notions of mankind. And this, 
I fuppofe you will acknowledge, having made it an ob- 
jection againft a particular revelation, that there are fo 
many pretences to it throughout the world. 

Alc. — O Euphranor y he who looks into the bottom of 
things, and refolves them into their firft principles, is 

* Plato in lone. 



[Dial. VI.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 273 

not eafily amufed v/ith words. The word infpiration founds 
indeed big, but let us, if you pleafe, take an original 
view of the thing fignified by it. To infpire, is a word 
borrowed from the Latin, and, ftri£Uy taken, means no 
more than to breathe or blow in : nothing, therefore, can 
be infpired, but what can be blown or breathed, and 
nothing can be fo, but wind or vapour, which indeed may 
fill or puff up men, with fanatical and hypochondriacal 
ravings. This fort of hifpiration I readily admit. 

Euph. — What you fay is fubtle, and I know not what 
efFecl: it might have upon me, if your profound dif- 
courfe did not hinder its own operation. 

Alc. — How fo ? 

Euph. — Tell me, Alciphron, do you difcourfe, or do 
you not ? To me it feems that you difcourfe admirably. 

Alc. — Be that as it will, it is certain I difcourfe. 

Euph. — But when I endeavor to look into the bottom 
of things, behold ! a fcruple rifeth in my mind how this 
can be ; for to difcourfe is a word of Latin derivation, which 
originally fignifies to run about ; and a man cannot run 
about, but he muft change place, and move his legs ; fo 
long therefore as you fit on this bench, you cannot be faid 
to difcourfe. Solve me this difficulty, and then perhaps 
I may be able to folve yours. 

Alc — You are to know, that difcourfe is a word bor- 
rowed from fenfible things, to exprefs an invifible action 
of the mind, reafoning or inferring one thing from ano- 
ther : And, in -this tranflated fenfe, we may be faid to 
difcourfe, though we fit (till. 

Euph. — And may we not as well conceive, that the 
term infpiration might be borrowed from fenfible things, 
to denote an action of God, in an extraordinary manner, 
influencing, exciting, and enlightening the mind of a 
prophet or an apoftle ? who, in this fecondary, figura- 
tive, and tranflated fenfe, may truly be faid to be infpired, 

L 1 



2 74 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. VI.] 

though there (hould be nothing in the cafe of that wind 
or vapour implied in the original fenfe of the word ? It 
feems to me, that we may, by looking into our own minds, 
plainly perceive certain inflincts, impulfes, and tendencies, 
which, at proper periods and occafions, fpring up unac- 
countably in the foul of man. We obferve very vifible 
figns of the fame in all other animals. And thefe things 
being ordinary and natural, what hinders but we may con- 
ceive it poflible for the human mind, upon an extraordi- 
nary account, to be moved in an extraordinary manner, 
and its faculties ftirred up and actuated by a fupernatural 
power ? That there are, and have been, and are likely to 
be wild vifions, and hypochondriacal ravings, no body 
can deny : But to infer from thence, that there are no 
true infpirations would be too like concluding, that fome 
men are not in their fenfes, becaufe other men are fools. 
And though I am no prophet, and confequently cannot 
pretend to a clear notion of this matter ; yet I fhall not 
therefore take upon me to deny, but a true prophet, or in- 
fpired perfon, might have had as certain means of difcern- 
ing between divine infpiration and hypochondriacal fancy, 
as you can between fleeping and waking, till you have 
proved the contrary. You may meet in the book of Jer- 
emiah with this paffage : * The prophet that hath a dream, 
6 let him tell a dream : And he that hath my word, let 

* him fpeak my word faithfully : what is the chaff to the 

* wheat, faith the Lord ? Is not my word like as a fire, 
c faith the Lord, and like a hammer that breaketh the 

* rock in pieces ?' * You fee here a diftin&ion made be- 
tween wheat and chaff, true and fpurious, with the migh- 
ty force and power of the former. But I beg pardon for 
quoting Scripture to you. I make my appeal to the gen- 
eral fenfe of mankind, and the opinion of the wifeft 

* Jercm. xxiii. a 8, 39. 



[Dial. VL] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 275 

heathens, which feems fufficient to conclude divine infpi- 
ration poflible, if not probable, at leaft till you prove the 
contrary. 

X. Alc. — The poffibility of infpirations and revela- 
tions I do not think it neceffary to deny. Make the bed 
you can of this conceflion. 

Euph. — Now what is allowed poflible we may fuppofe 
in fa£t 

Alc— -We may. 

Euph. — Let us then fuppofe, that God had been pleaf- 
ed to make a revelation to men ; and that he infpired fome 
as a means to inftru£t others. Having fuppofed this, can 
you deny, that their infpired difcourfes and revelations 
might have been committed to writing, or that being 
written, after a long tracl: of time they might become in 
feveral places obfcure \ that fome of them might even 
originally have been lefs clear than others, or that they 
might fufFer fome alteration by frequent tranfcribing, as 
other writings are known to have done ? Is it not even ve- 
ry probable that all thefe things would happen ? 

Alc. — I grant it. 

Euph. — And granting this, with what pretence can 
you reject the Holy Scripture as not being divine, upon 
the account of fuch figns or marks, as you acknowledge 
would probably attend a divine revelation tranfmitted down 
to us, through fo many ages ? 

Alc— But allowing all that in reafon you can defire, 
and granting that this may account for fome obfcurity, 
may reconcile fome fmall differences, or fatisfy us how 
fome difficulties might arife by inferting, omitting, or 
changing here and there a letter, a word, or perhaps a 
fentence : Yet thefe are but fmall matters, in refpe£t. of 
the " much more confiderable and weighty objections I 
could produce, againft the confeffed doctrines, or fubjecl: 
matter of thofe writings. Let us fee what is contained 



i>)6 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. VI.3 

in thefe facred books, and then judge whether it is prob- 
able, or poflible, fuch revelations ihould ever have been 
made by God ? Now I defy the wit of man to contrive 
any thing more extravagant, than the accounts we there 
find of apparitions, devils, miracles, God manifeft in the 
fleih, regeneration, grace, felf-denial, refurreclion of the 
dead, and fuch like agri /omnia : Things fo odd, unac- 
countable, and remote from the apprehenfion of man- 
kind, you may as foon wafh a blackmore white, as clear 
them of abfurdity. No critical fkill can juilify them, 
no tradition recommend them, I will not fay for divine 
revelations, but even for the inventions of men of fenfe. 
Euph. — I had always a great opinion of your fagacity, 
but now, Alciphron y I confider you as fomething more 
than man : Elfe how mould \t be poflible for you to know, 
what or how far it may be proper for God to reveal ? Me- 
thinks it may confift, with all due deference to the greateft 
of human understandings, to fuppofe them ignorant of 
many things, which are not fuited to their faculties, or lie 
out of their reach. Even the councils of princes lie often 
beyond the ken of their fubje&s, who can only know fo 
much as is revealed by thofe at the helm ; and are often 
unqualified to judge of the ufefulnefs and tendency even 
of that, till in due time the fcheme unfolds, and is ac- 
counted for by fucceeding events. That many points con- 
tained in Holy Scripture are remote from the common ap- 
prehenfions of mankind, cannot be denied. But I do not 
fee, that it follows from thence, they are not of divine 
revelation. On the contrary, fhould it not feem reafona- 
ble to fuppofe, that a revelation from God fhould contain 
fomething different in kind, or more excellent in degree, 
than what lay open to the common fenfe of men, or could 
even be difcovered by the rr>oft fagacious philofopher ? 
Accounts of feparate fpirits, good or bad, prophefies, 
miracles, and fuch things, are undoubtedly ftrange : But 



[Dial. VI.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 277 

I would fain fee how you can prove them impoffible or 
abfurd. 

Alc. — Some things there are fo evidently abfurd, that 
it would be almoft as filly to difprove them as to believe 
them : And I take thefe to be of that clafs. 

XL Euph. — But is it not poffible, fome men may 
fhew as much prejudice and narrownefs in rejecting all 
fuch accounts, as others might eafinefs and credulity in 
admitting them ? I never durft make my own obfervation 
or experience the rule and meafure of things fpiritual, fu- 
pernatural, or relating to another world, becaufe I mould 
think it a very bad one,, even for the vifible and natural 
things of this : It would be judging like the Siamefe, who 
was pofitive it did not freeze in Holland, becaufe he had 
never known fuch a thing as hard water, or ice, in his 
own country. I cannot comprehend why any one, who 
admits the union of the foul and body, fhould pronounce 
it impoffible for the human nature to be united to the di- 
vine, in a manner ineffable and incomprehenfible by reafon. 
Neither can I fee any abfurdity in admitting, that finful man 
may become regenerate, or a new creature, by the grace 
of God reclaiming him from a carnal life, to a fpiritual 
life of virtue and holinefs. And fince the being governed 
by fenfe and appetite, is contrary to the happinefs and 
perfection of a rational creature, I do not at all wonder 
that we are prefcribed felf-denial. As for the refurret~tion 
of the dead, I do not conceive it fo very contrary to the anal- 
ogy of nature, when I behold vegetables left to rot in the 
earth, rife up again with new life and vigor, or a worm 
to all appearance dead, change its nature, and that, 
which in ks firft being crawled on the earth, become a 
new fpecies, and fly abroad with wings. And indeed 
when I confider, that the foul and body are things fo ve- 
ry different and heterogeneous, I can fee no reafon to be 



2 7 S MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. VI.] 

pofitive, that the one muft neceffarily be extinguished 
upon the diflblutlon of the other ; efpecially fince I find 
in myfelf a ftrong natural defire of immortality, and I 
have not obferved that natural appetites are wont to be 
given in vain, or merely to be fruftrated. Upon the 
whole, thofe points which you account extravagant and 
abfurd, I dare not pronounce to be fo till I fee good rea- 
fon for it. 

XII. Cri. — No, Alciphron, your pofitive airs muft not 
pafs for proofs ; nor will it fuffice to fay, things are con- 
trary to common fenfe, to make us think they are fo : By 
common fenfe, I fuppofe, mould be meant either the ge- 
neral fenfe of mankind, or the approved reafon of think- 
ing men. Now I believe that all thofe articles, you have, 
with fo much capacity and fire, at once fummed up and 
exploded, may be fhewn to be not difagreeable, much 
lefs contrary to common fenfe, in one or other of thefe 
acceptations. That the Gods might appear and converfe 
among men, and that the Divinity might inhabit human 
nature, were points allowed by the heathens ; and for 
this I appeal to their poets and philofophers, whofe tefti- 
monies are fo numerous and clear, that it would be an 
affront to repeat them to a man of any education. And 
though the notion of a devil may not be fo obvious, or 
fo fully defcribed, yet there appear plain traces of it, ei- 
ther from reafon or tradition. The later Platonijls, as 
Porphyry and lamblichus, are very clear in the point, al- 
lowing that evil demons delude and tempt, hurt and pof- 
fefs mankind. That the ancient Greeks, Chaldeans, and 
Egyptians, believed both good and bad angels, may be 
plainly colle&ed from Plato, Plutarch, and the Chaldean 
oracles. Origen obferves, that almoft all the Gentiles, 
who held the being of demons, allowed there were bad 
ones.* There is even fomething as early as Homer, that 

* Origen. 1. 7. contra Celfum. 



[Dial. VI.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 279 

is thought by the learned cardinal, Bejfarionfi to allude to 
the fall of fatan, in the account of Ate y whom the poet 
reprefents as caft down from heaven by Jove, and then 
wandering about the earth, doing mifchief to mankind. 
This fame Ate is faid by Hefiod, to be the daughter of 
difcord ; and by Euripides, in his Hippolytus, is mention- 
ed as a tempter to evil. And it is very remarkable, that 
Plutarchy in his book De vitatido are alieno y fpeaks after 
Empedocles, of certain demons that fell from heaven, and 
were banifhed by God, Daimones theelatoi kai ouranopeteis. 
Nor is that lefs remarkable, which is obferved by Fici- 
nus from Pherecydes Syrus, that there had been a down- 
fal of demons, who revolted from God : and that Opione* 
us (the old ferpent) was head of that rebellious crew.**-— 
Then as to the other articles, let any one confider what 
the Pythagoreans taught, of the purgation and lufis, or de- 
liverance of the foul : What moil philofophers, but efpe- 
cially the fates, of fubduing our paflions : What Plata 
and Hierocles have faid of forgiving injuries : What the 
acute and fagacious Arijlotle writes, in his Ethics to iV7- 
comachus, of the fpiritual and divine life, that life which, 
according to him, is too excellent to be thought human ; 
infomuch as man, fo far forth as man, cannot attain to 
it ; but only fo far forth as he hath fomething divine in 
him : And particularly, let him reflect on what Socrates 
taught, to wit, that virtue is not to be learned from men, 
that it is the gift of God, and that good men are not good 
by virtue of human care or diligence, ouh einai authropinen 
epimeleian e agathoi agathoi gignontai* Let any man, who 
really think*, but confider what other thinking men have 
thought, who cannot be fuppofed prejudiced in favor of 
revealed religion ; and he will fee caufe, if not to think 

f In calumniat Platonis, 1. 3. c. 7. 

** Vid. Argum. in Phaedrum Platonis. 

* Vid, Plat, in Protag, & alibi paflim. 



28o MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. VL] 

with reverence of the chriftian doctrines of grace, felf- 
denial, regeneration, fan£tification, and the reft, even 
the moft myfterious, at leaft to judge more modeftly and 
warily, than he who ihall, with a confident air, pro- 
nounce them abfurd, and repugnant to the reafon of 
mankind. And in regard to a future ftate, the common 
fenfe of the Gentile world, modern or ancient, and the 
opinions of the wifeft men of antiquity, are things fo well 
known, that I need fay nothing about them. To me it 
feems, the Minute Philofophers, when they appeal to 
reafon and common fenfe, mean only the fenfe of their 
own party : A coin, how current foever among them- 
felves, that of other men will bring to the touchftone, 
and pafs for no more than it is worth. 

Lys. — Be thofe notions agreeable to what or whofe 
fenfe they may, they are not agreeable to mi A. And if 
I am thought ignorant for this, I pjjty thofe who think 
me fo. 

XIII. I enjoy myfelf, and follow my own courfes, 
without remorfe or fear : Which I mould not do, if my 
head were filled with enthufiafm ; whether gentile or 
chriftian, philofophical or revealed, it is all one to me. 
Let others know or believe what they can, and make the 
beft on't, I, for my part, am happy and fafe in my igno- 
rance. 

Cri. — Perhaps not fo fafe neither. 

Lys.— Why, furely you won't pretend that ignorance 
is criminal ? 

Cri. — Ignorance alone is not a crime. But that wilful 
ignorance, affected ignorance, ignorance from lloth, or 
conceited ignorance, is a fault, might eafily be proved by 
the teftimony of heathen writers : And it needs no proof 
to mew that if ignorance be our fault, we cannot be fe- 
cure in it as an excufe. 



[Dial. VI.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 281 

Lys. — Honed Crito feems to hint, that a man mould 
take care to inform himfelf, while alive, left his neglect 
be punifhed when he is dead. Nothing is fo pufillani- 
mous and unbecoming a gentleman as fear : Nor could 
you take a likelier courfe to fix and rivet a man of honor 
in guilt, than by attempting to frighten him out of it. 
This is the Hale, abfurd ftratagem of priefts, and that 
which makes them, and their religion, more odious and 
contemptible to me, than all the other articles put toge- 
ther. 

Cri. — I would fain know why it may not be reafona- 
ble for a man of honor, or any man who has done amifs, 
to fear ? Guilt is the natural parent of fear ; and nature 
is not ufed to make men fear, where there is no occafion. 
That impious and profane men fhould expect divine pun- 
ifhment, doth not feem fo abfurd to conceive : And that, 
under this expectation, they mould be uneafy, and even 
afraid, how confident foever it may or may not be with 
honor, I am fure confids with reafon. 

Lys. — That thing of hell and eternal punifhment is the 
mod abfurd, as well as the mod difagreeable thought that 
ever entered into the head of mortal man. 

Cri. — But you mud own, that it is not an abfurdity pe- 
culiar to chridians, fince Socrates, that great free-thinker 
of Athens, thought it probable there might be fuch a 
thing as impious men for ever punifhed in hell. * It is 
recorded of this fame Socrates, that he has been often 
known to think for four and twenty hours together, fixed 
in the fame podure, and wraped up in meditation. 

Lys. — Our modern free-thinkers are a more lively fort 
of men. Thofe old philosophers were mod of them 
whimfical. They had, in my judgment, a narrow, timor- 
ous way of thinking, which by no means came up to the 
frank humor of our times. 

* Vid. Platon. in GorgJa. 

INI m 



282 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. VI.] 

Cri. — But I appeal to your own judgment, if a man, 
who knows not the nature of the foul, can be affured by 
the light of reafon, whether it is mortal or immortal ? 

An fimul inter eat nobifcum morte perempta y 
An tenebras orci vifat vajlafque lacunas ? 

Lys. — But what if I know the nature of the foul ? 
"What if I have been taught that whole fecret by a modern 
free-thinker ? A man of fcience who difcovered it not by 
a tirefome introverfion of his faculties, not by amufing 
himfelf in a labyrinth of notions, or flupidly thinking for 
whole days and nights together, but by looking into things, 
and obferving the analogy of nature. 

XIV. This great man is a philofopher by fire, who has 
made many procefies upon vegetables. It is his opinion 
that men and vegetables are really of the fame fpecies ; 
that animals are moving vegetables, and vegetables fixed 
animals -, that the mouths of the one, and the roots of the 
other, ferve to the fame ufe, differing only in pofition ; 
that bloffoms and flowers anfwer to the mod indecent and 
concealed parts in the human body ; that vegetable and 
animal bodies are both alike organized, and that in both 
there is life, or a certain motion and circulation of juices, 
through proper tubes or vefTels. I mall never forget this 
able man's unfolding the nature of the foul in the follow- 
ing manner. The foul, faid he, is that fpecific form, or 
principle, from whence proceed the diftincT: qualities or 
properties of things. Now, as vegetables are a more Am- 
ple and le£s perfect compound, and confequently more ea- 
fily analyfed than . animals, we will begin with the con- 
templation of the fouls of vegetables. Know then, that 
the foul of any plant, rofeniary for inftance, is neither 
more nor lefs than its effential oil. Upon this depends 



[Dial. VI.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 283 

its peculiar fragrance, tafte, and medicinal virtues, or, in 
other words, its life and operations. Separate or extract 
this elTential oil by chymic art, and you get the foul of 
the plant : What remains being a dead carcafs, .without 
any one property or virtue of the plant, which is preferv- 
€d entire in the oil, a drachm whereof goes further than 
feveral pounds of the plant. Now this fame effential oil 
is itfelf a compofition of fulphur and fait, or of a grofs 
unctuous fubftance, and a fine fubtile principle or volatile 
fait imprifoned therein. This volatile fait is properly the 
eflence of the foul of the plant, containing all its virtue, 
and the oil is the vehicle of this mo ft fubtile part of the 
foul, or that which fixes and individuates it. And as, 
upon feparation of this oil from the plant, the plant died, 
fo a fecond death, or death of the foul, enfues upon the 
refolution of this effential oil into its principles ; as ap- 
pears by leaving it expofed for fome time to the open air, 
fo that the volatile fait, or fpirit, may fly off; after which 
the oil remains dead and infipid, but without any fenfible 
diminution of its weight, by the lofs of that volatile ef- 
fence of the foul, that ethereal aura, that fpark of enti- 
ty, which returns and mixes with the folar light, the uni- 
verfal foul of the world, and only fource of life, whether 
vegetable, animal, or intellectual ; which differ only ac- 
cording to the grofsnefs or finenefs of the vehicles, and 
the different textures of the natural alembics, or, in other 
words, the organized bodies, where the abovementioned 
volatile effence inhabits and is elaborated, where it a£ts 
and is acted upon. This chymical fyftem lets you at once 
into the nature of the foul, and accounts for all its phaeno- 
mena. In that compound which is called man, the foul, 
or effential oil, is what commonly goes by the name of 
animal fpirit : For you mufl know, it is a point agreed 
by chymifls, that fpirits are nothing but the more fubtile 
oils. Now in proportion, as the effential oil of the ve- 






28 4 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. VI.] 

getable man is more fubtile than that of other vegetables, 
the volatile fait that impregnates it is more at liberty to 
a& : Which accounts for thofe fpecific properties and ac- 
tions of human kind, which diftinguifh them above other 
creatures. Hence you may learn why, among the wife an- 
cients, fait was another name for wit, and, in our times, a 
dull man is faid to be infjpid or infulfe. Aromatic oils, 
matured by great length of time, turn to falts : This fhews 
why human kind grow wifer by age. And what I have 
faid of the twofold death or diflblution, firft, of the com- 
pound, by feparating the foul from the organical body, 
and fecondly, of the foul itfelf, by dividing the volatile fait 
from the oil, illuftrates and explains that notion of cer- 
tain ancient philofophers : That as the man was a com- 
pound of foul and body, fo the foul was compounded of 
the mind, or intelletl:, and its sethereal vehicle : And that 
the feparation of foul and body, or death of the man, is, 
after a long tracl: of time, fucceeded by a fecond death 
of the foul itfelf; to wit, the feparation or deliverance 
of the intellect from its vehicle, and re-union with the 
fun. 

Euph. — O Lyjicles> your ingenious friend has opened a 
new fcene, and explained the mod obfcure and difficult 
points in the clearer! and eafieft manner. 

Lys. — I muft own this account of things ftruck my 
fancy. I am no great lover of creeds or fyftems : But 
when a notion is reafonable, and grounded on experience, 
I know how to value it. 

Cri. — In good earneft, Lyjicles, do you believe this ac- 
count to be true ? 

Lys. — Why then, in good earneft, I do not know 
whether I do or no. But I can aflure you the ingenious 
artifl himfelf has not the leaft doubt about it. And to 
believe an artifl in his art, is a jufl maxim and fhort way 
to fcience. 



[Dial. VI.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 2S5 

Cri. — But what relation hath the foul of man to chy- 
mic art ? The fame reafon, that bids me truft a fkilful 
artifl in his art, inclines me to fufpe£r. him out of his art. 
Men are too apt to reduce unknown things to the ftandard 
of what they know, and bring a prejudice or tincture 
from things they have been converfant in, to judge there- 
by of things in which they have not been converfant. I 
have known a fiddler gravely teach, that the foul was har- 
mony ; a geometrician very pofitive, that the foul mud be 
extended ; and a phyfician, who having pickled half a do- 
zen embryos, and diiTeclied as many rats and frogs, grew 
conceited, and affirmed there was no foul at all, and that 
it was a vulgar error. 

Lys. — My notions fit eafy. I fhall not engage in pe- 
dantic difputes about them. They who don't like them 
may leave them. 

Euph. — This, I fuppofe, is faid much like a gentle- 
man. 

XV. But pray, Lyficles> tell me whether the clergy 
come within that general rule of yours : That an artift 
may be trufted in his art ? 

Lys. — By no means. 

Euph. — Why fo ? 

Lys. — Becaufe I take myfeifto know as much of thofe 
matters as they do. 

Euph. — But you allow that, in any other profefllon, 
one that hath fpent much time and pains, may attain 
more knowledge, than a man of equal or better parts, 
who never made it his particular bufinefs. 

Lys. — I do. 

Euph. — And neverthelefs, in things religious and di- 
vine, ycu think all men equally knowing. 

Lys. — I do not fay all men. But I think all men of 
fenfe competent judges. 



286 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. VI.] 

Euph. — What ! are the divine attributes and difpenfa- 
tions to mankind, the true end and happinefs of rational 
Creatures, with the means of improving and perfecting 
their beings, more eafy and obvious points, than thofe 
which make the fubjecl: of every common profeflion ? 

Lys.-— Perhaps not : but one thing I know, fome 
things are fo manifeftly abfurd, that no authority fhall 
make me give into them. For inflance, if all mankind 
fhould pretend to perfuade me that the Son of God was 
born upon earth in a poor family, was fpit upon, buffeted, 
and crucified, lived like a beggar, and died like a thief, I 
fhould never believe one fyllable of it. Common fenfe 
fhews every one, what figure it would be decent for an 
earthly prince, or ambafiador, to make ; and the Son of 
God, upon an embafly from heaven, mud needs have 
made an appearance beyond all others of great eclat, and, 
in all refpects, the very reverfe of that which Jefiis Chrift 
is reported to have made, even by his own hiftorians. 

Euph.< — O Lyficles, though I had ever fo much mind 
to approve and applaud your ingenious reafoning, yet I dare 
not affent to this for fear of Crito. 

Lys. — Why fo ? 

Euph.— Becaufe he obferved juft now, that men judge 
of things they do not know, by prejudices from things 
they do know. And I fear he would object that you, 
who have been converfant in the grand monde, having your 
head filled with a notion of attendants, and equipages, 
and liveries, the familiar badges of human grandeur, are 
lefs able to judge of that which is truly divine : and that 
one who had feen lefs, and thought more, would be apt 
to imagine a pompous parade of worldly greatnefs, not 
the moft becoming the author of a fpiritual religion, that 
was defigned to wean men from the world, and raife thern 
above it. 



[Dial. VI.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 287 

Cri. — Do you think, Lv/icles, if a man fhould make 
his entrance into London, in a rich fuit of clothes, with a 
hundred gilt coaches, and a thoufand laced footmen, that 
this would be a more divine appearance, and have more 
of true grandeur in it, that if he had power with a word 
to heal all manner of difeafes, to raife the dead to life, 
and (till the raging of the winds and fea ? 

Lys. — Without all doubt it muft be very agreeable to 
common fenfe to fuppofe, that he could reft ore others to 
life, who could not fave his own. You tell us, indeed, 
that he rofe again from the dead : but what occafion was 
there for him to die, the juhVfor the unjuft, the Son of 
God for wicked men ? And why in that individual place ? 
Why at that very time above all others ? Why did he 
not make his appearance earlier, and preach in all parts 
of the world, that the benefit might have been more ex- 
tenfive and equal ? Account for all thefe points; and re- 
concile them, if you can, to the common notions and 
plain fenfe of mankind. 

Cri. — And what if thofe, as well as many other points, 
fhould lie out of the road that we are acquainted with ; 
muft we, therefore, explode them, and make it a rule to 
condemn every proceeding as fenfelefs, that doth not 
fquare with the vulgar fenfe of man ? That, indeed, 
which evidently contradicts fenfe and reafon, you have a 
right to difbelieve. And when you are unjuftly treated, 
you have the fame right to complain. But I think you 
mould diftinguifh between matter of debt and matter of 
favor. Thus much is obferved in all intercourfe between 
man and man *, wherein acts of mere benevolence are 
never infilled on, or examined and meafured with the 
fame accurate line as matters of juftice. Who but a Mi- 
nute Philofopher would, upon a gratuitous diftribution 
of favors, inquire, why at this time, and not before ? 
why to thefe perfons, and not to others ? Various are the 



288 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. VI.] 

natural abilities and opportunities of human kind. How 
wide a difference is there in refpecl: of the law of nature, 
between one of our ftupid ploughmen and a Minute Phi- 
lofopher ! Between a Laplander and an Athenian ! That 
conduct, therefore, which feems to you partial or une- 
qual, may be found as well in the difpenfation of natural 
religion as of revealed, and if fo, why it fhould be 
made an objection againft the one more than the other, 
I leave you to account. For the reft, if the precepts and 
certain primary tenets of religion appear, in the eye of 
reafon, good and ufeful ; and if they are alfo found to 
be fo by their effects, we may, for the fake of them, admit 
certain other points, or doctrines, recommended with them, 
to have a good tendency, to be right and true ; although 
we cannot difcern their goodnefs or truth by the mere light 
of human reafon, which may well be fuppofed an inef- 
ficient judge of the proceedings, counfels and defigns, of 
Providence, and this fufficeth to make our conviction rea- 
fonable. 

XVI. It is an allowed point, that no man can judge of 
this or that part of a machine taken by itfelf, without 
knowing the whole, the mutual relation or dependence 
of its parts, and the end for which it was made. And, 
as this is a point acknowledged in corporeal and natural 
things, ought we not, by a parity of reafon, to fufpend 
our judgment concerning the moral fitnefs of a fingle un- 
accountable part of the divine economy, till we are more 
fully acquainted with the moral fyftem, or world of fpi- 
rits, and are let into the defigns of God's providence, and 
have an extenfive view of his difpenfations pari:, prefent, 
and future ? Alas ! Lyficles> what do you know even of 
yourfelf, whence you come, what you are, or whither 
you are going ? To me it feems, that a Minute Philofo- 
pher is like a conceited fpe£tator, who never looked be- 



[Dial. VI.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 289 

hind the fcenes, and yet would judge of the machinery ; 
who from a tranfient glimpfe of a part only of lome one 
fcene, would take upon him to cenfure the plot of a play. 

Lys. — As to the plot I won't fay ; but in half a fcene 
a man may judge of an abfurd a£tor. "With what color 
or pretext can you juftify the vindictive, froward, whim- 
fical behavior of fome infpired teachers or prophets ? Par- 
ticulars, that ferve neither for profit nor pleafure, I make a 
fhift to forget : but, in general, the truth of this charge I 
do very well remember. 

Cri. — You need be at no pains to prove a point, I {hall 
neither juftify nor deny. I would only beg leave to ob- 
ferve, that it feems a fure fign of fincerity in the facred 
writers, that they mould be fo far from palliating the de- 
feels, as to pubiifh even the criminal and abfurd actions 
of thofe very perfons, whom they relate to have been in- 
fpired. For the reft, that there have been human paf- 
fions, infirmities, and defects in perfons infpired by God, 
I freely own : nay, that very wicked men have been in- 
fpired, as Balaam , for inftance, and Caiaphas, cannot be 
denied. But what will you infer from thence ? Can you 
prove it impoflible that a weak or finful man fliould be- 
come an inftrument to the fpirit of God, for conveying 
his purpofe to other finners, or that divine light may not, 
as well as the light of the fun, fhine on afoulveflel with- 
out polluting its rays ? 

Lys.— To make fhort work, the right way would be 
to put out our eyes, and not judge at all. 

Cri. — I do not fay fo, but I think it would be right, if 
fome fanguine perfons, upon certain points, fufpedted their 
own judgment. 

Alc. — But the very things faid to be infpired, taken by 
themfclves, and in their own nature, are fometimes fo 
wrong, to fay no worfe, that a man may pronounce them 
not to be divine at firft fight •, without troubling his head 

N n 



7 9 o MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. VI.] 

about the fyftem of Providence or connexion of events : 
As one may fay that grafs is green, without knowing or 
confidering how it grows, what ufes it is fubfervient to, or 
how it is connected with the mundane fyftem. Thus, for 
inftance, the fpoiling of the Egyptians, and the extirpa- 
tion of the Canaanites, every one, at firft glance, fees to be 
cruel and unjuft, and may, therefore, without deliberating, 
pronounce them unworthy of God. 

Cri. — But, Alciphron, to judge rightly of t he fe things, 
may it not be proper to confider, how long the Ifraelites 
had wrought under thofe fevere tafk-mafters of Egypt, 
what injuries and hardfhips they had fuftained from them, 
what crimes and abominations the Canaanites had been 
guilty of what right God hath to difpofe of the things of 
this world, to punifh delinquents, and to appoint both 
the manner and the inftruments of his juftice ? Man, 
who has not fuch a right over his fellow-creatures, who is 
himfelf a fellow-finner with them, who is liable to error 
as well as paffion, whofe views are imperfect, who is gov- 
erned more by prejudice than the truth of things, may not 
improbably deceive himfelf, when he fets up for a judge 
of the proceedings of the holy, omnifcient, impaflive 
Creator and Governor of all things. 

XVII. Alc — Believe me, Criio, men are never fo in- 
duftrious to deceive themfelves, as when they engage to 
defend their prejudices. You would fain reafon us out of 
all ufe of our reafon : can any thing be more irrational ? 
To forbid us to reafon on the divine difpenfations, is to fup- 
pofe they will not bear the teft of reafon ; or, in other 
words, that God acts without reafon, which ought not to 
be admitted, no, not in any fingle inftance : For if in 
one, why not in another ? Whoever, therefore, allows a 
God, muft allow that he always a&s reafonably. I will 
not, therefore, attribute to him actions and proceedings that 



[Dial. VI.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 291 

are unreafonable. He hath given me reafon to judge with- 
al : and I will judge by that unerring light, lighted from 
the univerfal lamp of nature. 

Cri.— O Alciphron ! as I frankly own the common re- 
mark to be true, that when a man is againft reafon, it is 
a fhrewd Cgn, reafon is againft him *, fo I ihould never go 
about to difluade any one, much lefs one, who fo well 
knew the value of it, from nfing that noble talent. On 
the contrary, upon all fubje&s of moment, in my opin- 
ion, a man ought to ufe his reafon ; but then, whether 
it may not be reafonable to ufe it with fome deference to 
fuperior reafon, it will not, perhaps, be amifs to confid- 
er. He, who hath an exa£t, view of the meafure, and of 
the thing to be meafured, if he applies the one to the other, 
may, I grant, meafure exactly. But he, who undertakes 
to meafure without knowing either, can be no more ex- 
a£l than he is modeft. It may not, neverthelefs, be im- 
poffible to find a man, who, having neither an abftra£t. 
idea of moral fitnefs, nor an adequate idea of the divine 
economy, (hall yet pretend to meafure the one by the 
other. 

Alc — It mult furely derogate from the wifdom of 
God, to fuppofe his conducl: cannot bear being infpe£ted ? 
not even by the twilight of human reafon. 

Euph. — You allow, then, God to be wife ? 

Alc — I do. 

Euph. — What ! infinitely wife ? 

Alc. — Even infinitely. 

Euph. — His Wifdom, then, far exceeds that of man. 

Alc. — Very far. 

Euph. — Probably more than the wifdom of man, that 
of a child. 

x\lc. — Without all queftion. 

Euph. — What think you, Alciphron> muft not the con- 
due* of a parent fecm very unaccountable to a child, when 



2 9 2 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. VI.] 

its inclinations are thwarted, when it is put to learn the 
letters, when it is obliged to fwallow bitter phyfic, to 
part with what it likes, and to fuffer, and do, and fee 
many things done contrary to its own judgment, however 
reafonable or agreeable to that of others ? 

Alc. — This I grant. 

Euph. — -Will it not, therefore, follow from hence, by a 
parity of reafon, that the little child, man, when it takes 
upon it to judge of the fchemes of parental Providence 5 
and a thing of yefterday, to criticife the economy of the 
Ancient of Days ; will it not follow, I fay, that fuch a 
judge, of fuch matters, mull be apt to make very errone- 
ous judgments ? efteeming thofe things in themfelves un- 
accountable, which he cannot account for, and conclud- 
ing of fome certain points, from an appearance of arbi- 
trary carriage, towards him, which is fuited to his infancy 
and ignorance, that they are in themfelves capricious or 
abfurd, and cannot proceed from a wife, juft, and be- 
nevolent God. This fingle confideration, if duly attend- 
ed to, and applied, would, I verily think, put an end to 
many conceited reafonings againft revealed religion. 

Alc — You would have us then conclude, that things, 
to our wifdom unaccountable, may neverthelefs proceed 
from an abyfs of wifdom, which our line cannot fathom: 
And that profpects viewed but in part, and by the broken 
tinged light of our intellects, though to us they may 
feem diiproportionate and monftrous, may, neverthelefs, ap- 
pear quite otherwifeto another eye, and in a different fit- 
uation : In a word, that as human wifdom is but childim 
folly, in refpecl: of the divine, fo the wifdom of God 
may ibmetimes feem foolifhnefs to man. 

XVIII. Euph. — I would not have you make thefe con- 
clusions, unlefs in reafon, you ought to make them : 
But if they are reafenable, why mould you net make 
them ? 



[Dial. VI] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 293 

Alc. — Some things may feem reafonable at one time, 
and not at another : And I take this very apology you 
make, for credulity and fuperftition, to be one of thofe 
things. When I view it in its principles, it feems 
naturally to follow from juft concefiions : But when I con- 
fider its confequences, I cannot agree to it. A man had 
as good abdicate his nature, as difclaim the ufe of reafon. 
A doctrine is unaccountable, therefore it muft be divine \ 

Euph. — Credulity and fuperftition are qualities io dif- 
agreeableand degrading to human nature, (o furely an ef- 
fect of weaknefs, and fo frequently a caufe o£-wickednefs, 
that I mould be very much furprifed to find a jult courfe 
of reafoning lead to them. I can never think, that reafon 
is a blind guide to folly, or that there is any connexion 
between truth and falfhood, no more th.in I can think a 
thing's being unaccountable a proof that it is divine : 
Though at the fame time, I cannot help acknowledging, it 
follows from your own avowed principles, that a thing's 
being unaccountable, or incomprehenfible to our reafon, is 
no fure argument to conclude it is not divine ; efpecially 
when there are collateral proofs of its being fo. A child 
is influenced by the many fenfible effects it hath felt, of 
paternal love, and care, and fuperior wifdom, to believe 
and do feveral things with an implicit faith and obedience : 
And if we, in the fame manner, from the truth and re3- 
fonablenefs which we plainly fee in fo many points within 
our cognifance, and the advantages which we experi- 
ence from the feed of the gofpel (own in good ground, 
were difpofed to an implicit belief of certain other points, 
relating to fchemes we do not know, or fubjecls to which 
our talents are perhaps difproportionate, I am tempted to 
think it might become our duty, without difhonoring our 
reafon ; which is never fo much dishonored, as when it is 
foiled, and never in more danger of being foiled, than 
by judging where it hath neither means nor right to 
judge. 



294 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. VI.] 

Lys. — I would give a good deal to fee that ingenious 
gamefter, G/aucus, have the handling of Euphranor one 
night at our club. I own he is a peg too high for me in 
fome of his notions : But then he is admirable at vindica- 
ting human reafon againft the impofitions of prieftcraft. 

XIX. Alc. — He would undertake to make it as clear as 
day light, that there was nothing worth a draw in chrif- 
tianity, but what every one knew, or might know, as 
well without as with it, before as fince Jefus Chrijl. 

Cri. — That great man, it feems, teacheth, that com- 
mon fenfe alone is the pole-ftar, by which mankind ought 
to freer ; and that what is called revelation muft be ridic- 
ulous, becaufe it is unneceffary and ufelefs, the natural 
talents of every man being fufficient, to make him happy, 
good, and wife, without any further correfpondence with 
heaven either for light or aid. 

Euph. — I have already acknowledged how fenfible I 
am, that my fituation in this obfcure corner of the country 
deprives me of many advantages, to be had from the 
converfation of ingenious men in town. To make my- 
felf fome amends, I am obliged to converfe with the dead, 
and my own thoughts, which laft I know are of little 
weight againft the authority of Glaucus, or fuch like great 
men in the Minute Philofophy. But what fhall we fay to 
Socrates, for he too was of an opinion very different from 
that afcribed to Glaucus ? 

Alc. — For the prefent, we need not infift on authorities, 
ancient or modern, or inquire which was the greater man 
Socrates or Glaucus. Though, methinks, for fo much as 
authority can fignify, the prefent times, gray and hoary 
with age and experience, have a manifeft advantage over 
thofe that are falfly called ancient. But not to. dwell on au- 
thorities, I tell you in plain Englijh, Euphranor, we do 
not want your revelations : And that for this plain reafon, 



[Dial. VI.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 295- 

thofe, that are clear, every body knew before, and thofe, 
that are obfcure, no body is the better for. 

Euph. — As it is impoflible, that a man fhould believe 
the practical principles of the chriftian religion, and not 
be the better for them : So it is evident, that thofe princi- 
ples may be much more eafily taught as points of faith, 
than demonftrated or difcovered as points of fcience. 
This I call evident, becaufe it is plain fact. Since we 
daily fee, that many are inftructed in matters of faith ; 
that few are taught by fcientific demonftration ; and that 
there are ftill fewer, who can difcover truth for themfelves. 
Did Minute Philofophers but reflect, how rarely men are 
fwayed or governed by mere ratiocination, and how often 
by faith, in the natural, or civil concerns of the world I 
How little they know, and how much they believe ! How 
uncommon it is to meet with a man who argues juftly, 
who is in truth a mailer of reafon, or walks by that rule I 
How much better (as the world goes) men are qualified to 
judge of facts than of reafonings, to receive truth upon 
teftimony than to deduce it from principles ! How general 
a fpirit of truft or reliance runs through the whole fyftem 
of life and opinion ! And, at the fame time, how feldom 
the dry light of unprejudiced nature is followed or to be 
found ! I fay, did our thinking men but bethink themfelves 
of thefe things, they would perhaps find it difficult to af- 
fign a good reafon, why faith, which hath fo great a 
fhare in every thing elfe, mould yet have none in religion. 
But to come more clofely to your point, whether it was 
poffible for mankind to have known all parts of the chrif- 
tian religion, befides myfteries and pofitive inftitutions, is 
not the queftion between us ; and that they actually did 
not know them, is too plain to be denied. This, perhaps, 
was for want of making a due ufe of reafon. But, as 
to the ufefulnefs of revelation, it feems much the fame 
thing whether men could not know, or would not be at 



* 9 6 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. VI.] 

the pains to know the do&rines revealed. And as for 
thofe doctrines, which were too obfcure to penetrate, or 
too fublime to reach, by natural reafon ; how far mankind 
may be the better for them is more, I had almoft faid, 
than even you or Glaucus can tell. 

XX. Alc— But whatever may be pretended as to ob- 
fcure doctrines and difpenfations, all this hath nothing to 
do with prophecies ; which, being altogether relative to 
mankind, and the events of this world, to which our fa- 
culties are furely well enough proportioned, one might ex- 
pect fhould be very clear, and fuch as might inform in- 
ftead of puzzling us. 

Euph. — And yet it muft be allowed, thatasfome prophe- 
cies are clear, there are others very obfcure : but, left to 
myfeif, I doubt I fhould never have inferred from thence 
that they were not divine. In my own way of thinking, 
I fhould have been apt to conclude, that the prophecies, we 
underitand, are a proof for infpiration : But that thofe we 
do not underftand are no proof againft it. Inafmuch as 
for the latter our ignorance, or the referve of the Holy Spirit 
may account : but for the other, nothing, for ought that 
I fee, can account but infpiration. 

Alc. — Now I know feveral fagacious men, who con- 
clude very differently from you, to wit, that the one fort 
of prophecies are nonfenfe, and the other contrived after 
the events. Behold the difference between a man of free 
thought and one of narrow principles ! 

Euph. — It feems then, they reject the revelations be- 
eaufe they are obfcure, and Daniel's prophecies becaufe 
they are clear. 

Alc. — Either way, a man of fenfe fees caufe to fufpecl: 
there has been foul play. 

Euph. — Your men of fenfe are, it feems, hard to 
pleafe. 



[Dial. VI.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 207 

Alc— Our Philofophers are men of piercing eyes. 

Euph. — I fuppofe fuch men never make trancient judg- 
ments from trancient views, but always eftablifh fixed 
conclufions upon a thorough infpedfcion of things. For 
my own part, I dare not engage with a man, who has 
examined thofe points fo nicely, as it may be prefumed, 
you have done : But I could name fome eminent writers 
of our own, now living, whofe books on the fubjecl: of 
prophecy have given great fatisfa&ion to gentlemen, 
who pafs for men of fenfe and learning, here in the 
country. 

Alc. — You muft know, Euphranor> I am not at lei- 
fure to perufe the learned writings of divines, on a fub- 
jecl: which a man may fee through with half an eye. To 
me it is fufficient, that the point itfelf is odd and out of 
the road of nature. For the reft, I leave them to difpute 
and fettle among themfelves, where to fix the precife time 
when the fcepter departed from Judah : Or whether in 
Daniel's prophecy of the Mejfiah we mould compute by 
the Chaldean or the Julian year. My only conclufion 
concerning all fuch matters is, that I will never trouble 
myfelf about them. 

Euph. — To an extraordinary genius, who fees things 
with half an eye, I know not what to fay : But for the 
reft of mankind, one would think it mould be very ram 
in them to conclude, without much and exacl; inquiry, on 
the unfafe fide of a queftion which concerns their chief 
intereft. 

Alc. — Mark it will : A true genius in purfuit of truth, 
makes fwift anvances on the wings of general maxims, 
while little minds creep and grovel amidft mean particu- 
larities. I lay it down for a certain truth, that by the 
fallacious arts of logic and criticifm, draining and for- 
cing, palliating, patching and diftinguifhing, a man may 
juilify or make out any thing : And this remark, with 

O o 



29.8 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. VI.] 

one or two about prejudice, faves me a world of trouble. 
. Euph. — You, Alciphrotiy who foar fublime on ftrong 
and free pinions, vouchfafe to lend a helping hand to 
thofe, whom you behold intangled in the birdlime of pre- 
judice. For my part, I find it very poffible to fuppofe 
prophecy may be divine, although there mould be fome 
obfcurity at this diftance, with refpetl: to dates of time, 
or kinds of years. You yourfelf own revelation poffible : 
And allowing this, I can very eafily conceive it may be 
odd, and out of the road of nature. I can, without 
amazement, meet in holy fcriptures divers prophecies, 
whereof I do not fee the completion, divers texts I do 
not underftand, divers myfteries above my comprehen- 
sion, and ways of God to me unaccountable. Why may 
not fome prophecies relate to parts of hiftory I am not 
well enough acquainted with, or to events not yet come 
to pafs ? It feems to me, that prophecies unfathomed by 
the hearer, or even the fpeaker himfelf, have been after- 
ward verified and underftood in the event : and it is one 
of my maxims, that, ivhat hath been, may be. Though 
I rub mine eyes, and do mine utmofl to extricate myfelf 
from prejudice, yet it (till feems very poffible to me, that, 
what I do not, a more acute, more attentive, or more 
learned man may underftand : At leaft thus much is 
plain : the difficulty of fome points or palTages doth not 
hinder the clearnefs of others : And thofe parts of fcrip- 
ture which we cannot interpret, we are not bound to know 
the fenfe of. What evil or what inconvenience, if we 
cannot comprehend what we are not obliged to compre- 
hend, or if we cannot account for thofe things, which it 
doth not belong to us to account for ? Scriptures not un- 
derftood, at one time, or by one perfon, may be under- 
ftood at a nother time, or by other perfons. May we not 
perceive, by retrofpecT: on what is paft, a certain progrefs 
from darker to lighter, in the feries of the divine econo- 
my towards man ? And may not future events clear up 



[Dial. VI.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 299 

fuch points, as at prefent exercife the faith of believers ? 
Now, I cannot help thinking (fuch is the force either of 
truth or prejudice) that in all this, there is nothing drain- 
ed or forced, or which is not reafonable and natural to 
fuppofe. 

XXI. Alc — Well Eupbranor, I will lend you a help- 
ing hand, fince you defire it, but think fit to alter my 
method : For you muft know, the main points of chrif- 
tian belief have been infufed fo early, and inculcated fo 
often, by nurfes, pedagogues, and priefts : That, be 
the proofs ever fo plain, it is a hard matter to convince a 
mind thus tin&ured and ftained, by arguing againft re- 
vealed religion from its internal characters. I (hall there- 
fore fet myfelf to confider things in another light, and ex- 
amine your religion by certain external characters, or cir- 
cumftantials, comparing the fyllem of revelation with 
collateral accounts of ancient heathen writers, and mew- 
ing how ill it conlifts with them. Know then, that the 
chriftian revelation fuppofing the Jenvijb, it follows that if 
the Jewiflj be deftroyed, the chriftian mud of courfe fall 
to the ground. Now, to make fhort work, I (hall at- 
tack this Jeivifb revelation in its head. Tell me, are we 
not obliged, if we believe the Mofaic account of things, 
to hold the world was created not quite fix thoufand years 
ago ? 

Euph. — I grant we are. 

Alc — What will you fay now, if other ancient re- 
cords carry up the hiftory of the world many thoufand 
years beyond this period ? What if the Egyptians and 
Cbinefe have accounts extending to thirty or forty thoufand 
years ? What if the former of thefe nations have obferv- 
ed twelve hundred eclipfes, during the fpace of forty-eight 
thoufand years, before t\\Q time of Alexander the Great ? 
What if the Cbinefe have alfo many obfervations antece- 



joo MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. VI.] 

dent to the Jeivijh account of the creation ? What if the 
Chaldeans had been obferving the ftars for above four hun- 
dred thoufand years ? And whatfhall we fay, if we have 
fucceflions of kings and their reigns, marked for feveral 
thoufand years before the beginning of the world, aflign- 
ed by Mofes ? Shall we rejeel: the accounts and records of 
all other nations, the mod famous, ancient, and learned 
in the world, and preferve a blind reverence for the legif- 
lator of the Jews P 

Euph. — And pray, if they deferve to be rejected, why 
mould we not reject them ? What if thofe monftrous 
chronologies contain nothing but names without actions 
and manifeft fables ? What if thofe pretended obfervations 
of Egyptians and Chaldeans^ were unknown or unregarded 
by ancient aftronomers ? What if the Jefuits have fhewn 
the inconfiftency of the like Chinefe pretenfions with the 
truth of Ephemerides ? What if the mofl ancient Chinefe 
obfervations allowed to be authentic, are thofe of two 
fixed ftars, one in the winter folftice, the other in the ver- 
nal equinox, in the reign of their king Tao 9 which was 
fince the flood ? * 

Alc — You mud give me leave to obferve the Romijh 
miffionaries are of fmall credit in this point. 

Euph. — But what knowledge have we, or can we have, 
of thofe Chinefe affairs, but by their means ? The fame 
perfons that tell us of thefe accounts refute them : If we 
reject their authority in one cafe, what right have we to 
build upon it in another ? 

Alc. — When Iconfider, that the Chinefehkvt annals of 
more than forty thoufand years, and that they are a learn- 
ed, ingenious, and acute people, very curious and addicted 
to arts and fciences, I profefs I cannot help paying xome 
Tegard to their accounts of time. 

* Bianchini Hiflor. Univerf. c. 17. 



[Dial. VI.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 301 

Euph. — Whatever advantage their fituation and polit- 
ical maxims may have given them, it doth not appear, they 
are fo learned or fo acute in point of fcience as the Euro- 
peans, The general character of the Chinefe, if we may 
believe Trigaltius and other writers, is that they are men 
of a trifling and credulous curiofity, addicted to fearch 
after the philofopher's (tone, and a medicine to make men 
immortal, to aftrology, fortune-teliing, and prefages of 
all kinds. Their ignorance in nature and mathematics is 
evident, from the great hand the Jefuits make of that 
kind of knowledge among them. But what {hall we think 
of thofe extraordinary annals, if the very Chinefe them- 
felves give no credit to them for more than three thoufand 
years before Jefus Chrijl ? If they do not pretend to have 
begun to write hiftory above four thoufand years ago ? 
And if the oldeft books they have now extant in an inteilw 
igible character, are not above two thoufand years old ? 
One would think a man of your fagacity, fo apt to fuf- 
petr, every tiling out of the common road of nature, 
mould not, without the cleareft proof, admit thofe annals 
for authentic, which record fuch ftrange things as the 
fun's not fetting for ten days, and gold raining three days 
together. Tell me, Alciphron % can you really believe 
thefe things, without inquiring by what means the tradi- 
tion was preferved, through what hands it paffed, or what 
reception it met with, or who firfl: committed it to wri- 
ting ? 

Alc. — To omit the Chinefe and their (lory, it will ferve 
my purpofe as well to build on the authority of Manetho 
that learned Egyptian priefl, who had fuch opportunities 
of fearching into the molt ancient accounts of time, and 
copying into his dynafties the moll venerable and authentic 
records infcribed on the pillars of Hermes. 

Euph. — Pray, Alciphron y where were thofe chronolo- 
gical pillars to be feen ? 



302 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. VI.] 

Alc. — In the Seriadical land. 

Euph. — And where is that country ? 

Alc. — I do not know. 

Euph. — How were thofe records preferved for fo many 
ages down to the time of this Hermes, who is faid to have 
been the firft inventor of letters ? 

Alc. — I do not know. 

Euph. — Did any other writers, before or fince Mane- 
tho, pretend to have feen, or tranfcribed, or known any 
thing about thefe pillars ? 

Alc. — Not that I know. 

Euph. — Or about the place where they are faid to have 
been ? 

Alc-— If they did, it is more than I know. 

Euph. — Do the Greek authors that went into Egypt, 
and confulted the Egyptian priefts, agree with thefe ac- 
counts of Manetho ? 

Alc. — Suppofe they do not. 

Euph. — Doth Diodorus, who lived fince Manetho, fol- 
low, cite, or fo much as mention this fame Manetho ? 

Alc — What will you infer from all this ? 

Euph. — If I did not know you and your principles, and 
how vigilantly you guard againft impofture, I fhould infer 
that you were a very credulous man. For what can we 
call it but credulity to believe mod incredible things on 
mod flender authority, fuch as fragments of an obfcure 
writer, difagreeing with all other hiftorians, fupported 
by an obfcure authority of Hermes's pillars, for which 
you muft take his word, and which contain things fo im- 
probable as fucceflions of gods and demi-gods, for ma- 
ny thoufand years, Vulcan alone having reigned nine thou- 
fand ? There is little in thefe venerable dynafties of Man- 
etho, befides names and numbers : And yet in that little 
we meet with very flrange things, that would be thought 
romantic in another writer : For inftance, the Nile over- 



[Dial. VI.] r MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 303 

flowing with honey, the moon grown bigger, a fpeaking 
lamb, feventy kings who reigned as many days, one after 
another, a king a day. * If you are known, Alciphron, 
to give credit to thefe things, I fear you will lofe the hon- 
our of being thought incredulous. 

Alc. — And yet thefe ridiculous fragments, as you 
would reprefent them, have been thought worth the pains 
and lucubrations of very learned men. How can you ac- 
count for the work that the great Jofeph Scaliger and Sir 
John Marjham make about them ? 

Euph. — I do not pretend to account for it. To fee 
Scaliger add another Julian period to make room for fuch 
things as ManethJs dynafties, and Sir John Marjham take 
fo much learned pains to piece, patch, and mend thofe 
obfeure fragments, to range them in fynchronifms, and 
try to adjuft them with facred chronology, or make them, 
confident with themfelves and other accounts, is to me 
very ftrange and unaccountable. Why they, or Eufebius, 
or yourfelf, or any other learned man fhould imagine thofe 
things deferve any regard, I leave you to explain. 

XXII. Alc. — After all, it is not eafy to conceive what 
mould move, not only Manetho, but alfo other Egyptian 
priefts, long before his time, to fet up fuch great preten- 
ces to antiquity, all which, however differing one from 
another, agree in this, that they overthrow the Mofaic hif- 
tory. How can this be accounted for, without fome real 
foundation? What point of pleafure, or profit, or power, 
could fet men on forging fucceffions of ancient names, 
and periods of time for ages before the world began ? 

Euph.-— Pray, Alciphron, is there any thing fo ftrange 
or fingular in this vain humor of extending the antiquity 
of nations beyond the truth ? Hath it not been obferved 
in moft parts of the world ? Doth it not even in our own 
times fhew itfclf, efpecially among thofe dependent and 

* Seal. Can. Ifag, L a, 



3 o4 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. VI] 

fubdued people, who have little elfe to boaft of. To pafs 
over others of our fellow-fubje&s, who, in proportion 
as they are below their neighbors in wealth and power, 
lay claim to a more remote antiquity ; are not the preten- 
fions of Iri/hmen, in this way, known to be very extrava- 
gant ? If I may truft my memory, (J Flaherty, in his 
Ogygia, mentions fome tranfa£Hons in Ireland before the 
flood. The fame humor, and from the ume caufe, ap- 
pears to have prevailed in Sicily 9 a country, for fome cen- 
turies paft, fubjecl: to the dominion of foreigners : during 
which time, the Sicilians have publifhed divers fabulous 
accounts, concerning the original and antiquity of their 
cities, wherein they vie with each other. It is to be prov- 
ed by ancient inscriptions, whofe exiftence or authority 
feems on a level with that of HermeSs pillars, that Paler- 
mo was founded in the days of the patriarch, Ifaac, by a 
colony of' Hebrews, Phoenicians, and Syrians, and that a 
grandfon of Efau had been governor of a tower fubfifting 
within thefe two hundred years in that city. * The anti- 
quity of MeJJina hath been carried ftill higher, by fome 
who would have us think it was enlarged b J Nimrod. f 
The like pretentions are made by Catania, and other towns 
of that ifland, who have found authors of as good credit 
as Manetho to fupport them. Now I mould be glad to 
know why the Egyptians, a fubdued people, may not 
probably be fappofed to have invented fabulous accounts 
from the fame motive, and like others valued themfelves 
on extravagant pretenfions to antiquity, when in all other 
refpe&s they were fo much inferior to their mafters ? 
That people had been fucceffively conquered by Ethiopians, 
AJfyrians, Babylonians, Perfians, and Grecians, before it 
appears that thofe wonderful dynafties of Manetho and the 
pillars of Hennes were ever heard of; as they had been 

* Fazelli Hift. Sicul. decad. i. 1. 8. 
f Rcina Notbie Iftoriche di Mcffina. 



[Dial. VI.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 305 

by the two ilrft of thofe nations before the time of Solon 
, himfelf, the earlieft Greek, that is known to have confulted 
the priefts of Egypt : Whofe accounts were fo extrava- 
gant that even the Greek hiftorians, though unacquainted 
with Holy Scripture, were far from giving an intire credit 
to them. Herodotus making a report upon their authority, 
faith, thofe, to whom fuch things feem credible, may make 
the beft of them, for himfelf declaring that it was his 
purpofe to write what he heard.* And both he and Dio- 
dorus do, on divers occafions, (hew the fame diffidence in 
the narratives of thofe Egyptian priefts. And as we ob- 
ferved of the Egyptians, it is no lefs certain that the Phoe- 
nicians, AJJyrians, and Chaldeans were each a conquered 
and reduced people, before the reft of the world appear 
to have any thing of their pretenfions to fo remote anti- 
quity. 

Cri. — But what occafion is there to be at any pains to 
account for the humor of fabulous writers ? Is it not fuf- 
ficient to fee that they relate abfurdities ; that they are 
unfupported by any foreign evidence ; that they do not 
appear to have been in credit, even among their own 
countrymen, and that they are inconfiftent one with ano- 
ther ? That men (hould have the vanity to impofe on the 
world by falfe accounts, is nothing ftrange : it is much 
more fo, that after what has been done towards unde- 
ceiving the world by fo many learned critics, there fhould 
be men found capable of being abufed by thofe paltry 
fcraps of Manetho, Berofus, Ctejias, or the like fabulous 
or counterfeit writers. 

Alc. — Give me leave to obferve, thofe learned critics 
may prove to be ecclefiaftics, perhaps fome of them pa- 
pifts. 

Cri. — What do you think of Sir Ifaac Newton, was he 
either papift or ecclefiaftic ? Perhaps you may not allow 
him to have been in fagacity or force of mind equal to the 

* Herodotus in Euterpe. 

p p 



3 o6 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. VL] 

great men of the Minute Philofophy : But it cannot be 
denied that he had read and thought much upon the fub- 
jecl, and that the refult of his inquiry was a perfect con- 
tempt of all thofe celebrated rivals to Mofes. 

Alc. — It hath been obferved by ingenious men, that 
Sir Ifaac Newton, though a layman, was deeply prejudi- 
ced, witnefs his great regard to the bible. 

Cri. — -And the fame may be faid of Mr. Locke, Mr. 
Boyle, Lord Bacon, and other famous laymen, who, how- 
ever knowing in fome points, muft neverthelefs be allow- 
ed not to have attained that keen difcernment, which is 
the peculiar diftinclion of your feci:. 

XXIII. But perhaps there may be other reafons be- 
fide prejudice, to incline a man to gives Mofes the pre- 
ference, on the truth of whofe hiftory the government, 
manners, and religion of his countrymen were founded 
and framed ; of whofe hiftory there are manifeft traces 
in the mod ancient books, and traditions of the Gentiles, 
particularly of the Brachmans and Perfees ; not to men- 
tion the general atteftation of nature, as well as antiqui- 
ty, to his account of a deluge ; whofe hiftory is confirm- 
ed by the late invention of arts and fciences, the gradual 
peopling of the world, the very names of ancient nations, 
and even by the authority and arguments of that renown- 
ed philofopher, Lucretius, who, on other points, is fo 
much admired and followed, by thofe of your feci:. 
Not to mention, that the continual decreafe of fluids, 
the finking of hills, and the retardation of planetary mo- 
tions, afford fo many natural proofs, which (hew this 
world had a beginning ; as the civil or historical proofs 
abovementioned, do plainly point out this beginning, to 
have been about the time afligned in Holy Scripture. 
After all which, I beg leave to add one obfervation more. 
To any one, who confiders that, on digging into the 



IDial. VI.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 307 

earth, fuch quantities of fhells, and, in fome places, 
bones and horns of animals are found, found and entire, 
after having lain there in all probability fome thoufands of 
years, it mould feem probable, that gems, medals, and 
implements in metal or ftone, might have laded intire, 
buried under ground forty or fifty thoufand years, if the 
world had been fo old. How comes it then to pafs, that 
no remains are found, no antiquities of thofe numerous 
ages, preceding the fcripture accounts of time ; no frag- 
ments of buildings *, no public monuments ; no intaglias, 
cammeoes, ftatues, bafib relievos, medals, inscriptions, 
utenfils, or artificial works of any kind, are ever difcov- 
cred, which might bear teftimony to the exiftence of 
thofe mighty empires, thofe fucceffions of monarchs, 
heroes, and demi-gods, for fo many thoufand years ? 
Let us look forward, and fuppofe ten or twenty thoufand 
years to come, during which time, we will fuppofe, that 
plagues, famines, wars, and earthquakes lhall have made 
great havock in the world ; is it not highly probable, 
that at the end of fuch period, pillars, vafes, and ftatues 
now in being of granite, or porphyry, or jafper, ((tones 
of fuch hardnefs, as we know them to have lafted two 
thoufand years above ground, without any confiderable 
alteration) would bear record of thefe, and paft ages ? 
Or that fome of our current coins might then be dug up, 
or old walls and the foundations of buildings fhew them- 
felves, as well as the fhells and ftones of the primeval 
world, are preferved down to our times ? To me, it feems 
to follow, from thefe confiderations, which common 
fenfe and experience, make all men judges of, that we 
may fee good reafon to conclude, the world was created 
about the time recorded in the Holy Scripture. And if 
we admit a thing fo extraordinary as the creation of this 
world, it ihould feem that we admit fomething ftrange, 
and odd, and new to human apprehenfion, beyond any 
other miracle whatfoever. 



3 o8 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. VI.] 

XXIV. Alciphron fat muling and made no anfwcr, 
whereupon Ly fides expreffed himfelf in the following 
manner. I mull own, I mould rather fuppofe with 
Lucretius, that the world was made by chance, and that 
men grew out of the earth like pompions, than pin my 
faith on thofe wretched fabulous fragments of oriental 
hiftory. And as for the learned men, who have taken 
pains to illuftrate and piece them together, they appear to 
me no better than fo many mufty pedants. An ingenious 
free-thinker may, perhaps, now and then make fome ufe 
of their lucubrations, and play one abfurdity againft ano- 
ther. But you are not, therefore, to think, he pays any 
real regard to the authority of fuch apocryphal writers, or 
believes one fyllable of the Chinefe, Babylonian, or Egyptian 
traditions. If we feem to give them a preference before 
the bible, it is only becaufe they are not eftabliihed by 
law. This is my plain fenfe of the matter, and I dare 
fay it is the general fenfe of our feci: ; who are too ration- 
al to be in earneft on fuch trifles, though they fometimes 
give hints of deep erudition, and put on a grave face to 
divert themfelves with bigots. 

Alc — Since Lyfdes will have it fo, I am content not 
to build on accounts of time, preceding the Mofaic. I 
muft neverthelefs beg leave to obferve, there is another 
point of a different nature, againft which there do not lie 
the fame exceptions, that deferves to be confidered, and 
may ferve our purpofe as well. I prefume it will be al- 
lowed that hiftorians, treating of times within the Mofaic 
account, ought by impartial men to be placed on the fame 
foot with Mofes. It may therefore be expected, that 
thole, who pretend to vindicate his writings, mould- re- 
concile them with parallel accounts of other authors, treat- 
ing of the fame times, things, and perfons. And, if 
we are not attached fingly to Mofes, but take our notions 
from other writers, and the probability of things, we 



[Dial. VI.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 309 

fhall fee good caufe to believe, the Jews were only a crew 
of leprous Egyptians, driven from their country on account 
of that loathfome diftemper : And that their religion, 
pretended to have been delivered from heaven at Mount 
Sinai, was in truth learned in Egypt, and brought from 
thence. 

Cri.< — Not to infill, on what cannot be denied, that 
an hiftorian, writing of his own times is to be believed, 
before others who treat of the fame fubje£t, feveral ages 
after, it feems to me that it is abfurd to expecl: we fiiould 
reconcile Mofes with profane hiftorians, till you have firft 
reconciled them one with another. In anfwer, therefore, 
to what you obferve, I defire you would confider in the 
firft place, that Manetho, Cheremon, and Lyfimackus had 
publifhed inconfiftent accounts of the Jews, and their go- 
ing forth from Egypt : * In the fecond place, that their 
language is a plain proof, they were not of Egyptian, but 
either of Phenician, of Syrian, or of Chaldean original : 
And in the third place, that it doth not feem very proba- 
ble to fuppofe, their religion, the bafis or fundamental 
principle of which was the worfhip of one only Supreme 
God, and the principal defign of which was to abolifh 
idolatry, could be derived from Egypt, the moft idolatrous 
of all nations. It muft be owned, the feparate fituation 
and inftitutions of the Jews, occafioned their being treat- 
ed by fome foreigners, with great ignorance and contempt 
of them, and their original. But Strabo, who is allowed 
to have been a judicious and inquifitive writer, though he 
was not acquainted with their true hiftory, makes more 
honorable mention of them. He relates that Mofes, with 
many other worfhippers of one infinite God, not approv- 
ing the image worfhip of the Egyptians and other nations, 
went out from Egypt and fettled in Jerufalem, where they 
built a temple, to one only God without images, f 

* JofVph. contra Apion. 1. I- f Strab. 1. 16. 



S io MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. VI.] 

XXV. Alc. — We who aflert the caufe of liberty againft 
religion, in thcfe later ages of the world, lie under great 
difadvantages, from the lofs of ancient books, which 
cleared up many points to the eyes of thofe great men, 
Celfus, Porphyry, and Julian, which at a greater diftance, 
and with lefs help, cannot fo eafily be made out by us : 
But, had we thofe records, I doubt not, we might demol- 
ilh the whole fyftem at once. 

Cri.-— And yet I make fome doubt of this ; becaufe 
thofe great men, as you call them, with all thofe advanta- 
ges could not do it. 

Alc — That mull needs have been owing to the dul- 
nefs, and ftupidity of the world, in thofe days, when 
the art of reafoning was not fo much known and cultiva- 
ted as of late : But thofe men of true genius faw through 
the deceit themfelves, and were very clear in their opin- 
ion, which convinces me, they had good reafon on their 
fide. 

Cri. — And yet that great man Celfus feems to have had 
very flight and inconftant notions : one while, he talks 
like a thorough Epicurean ,• another, he admits miracles, 
prophecies, and a future ftate of rewards and punifhments. 
What think you, Alciphron, is it not fomething capricious 
in fo great a man, among other advantages which he 
afcribes to brutes above human kind, to fuppofe they are 
magicians and prophets •, that they have a nearer com- 
merce and union with the divinity ; that they know more 
than men ; and that elephants, in particular, are of all 
others moil religious animals, and Uriel: obfervers of an 
oath. * 

Alc — A great genius will be fometimes whimfical. 
But what do you fay to the emperor, Julian, was not he 
an extraordinary man ? 

Cri. — He feems by his writings, to have been lively 
and fatirical. Further, I make no difficulty of owning 

• Origen, contra Celfura, L 4, 



[Dial. VI.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 311 

that he was a generous, temperate, gallant, and facetious 
emperor : But at the fame time it muft be allowed, be- 
caufe his own heathen panegyrift, Ammianus Marcellinus, * 
allows it, that he was a prating, light, vain, fuperftitious 
fort of man. And, therefore, his judgment, or author- 
ity can be but of fmall weight with thofe, who are not 
prejudiced in his favor. 

Alc — But of all the great men, who wrote v againft 
revealed religion, the greateft without queflion was that 
truly great man, Porphyry, the lofs of whofe invaluable 
work can never be fufficiently lamented. This profound 
philofopher went to the bottom and original of things. 
He moft learnedly confuted the fcriptures, fhewed the ab- 
furdity of the Mofaic accounts, undermined and expo- 
fed the prophecies, and ridiculed allegorical interpreta- 
tions, f The moderns, it muft be owned, have done 
great things, and fhewn themfelves able men : Yet I can- 
not but regret the lofs of what was done by a perfon of 
fuch vaft abilities, and who lived fo much nearer the foun- 
tain-head ; though his authority furvives his writings, and 
muft (till have its weight, with impartial men, in fpite of 
the enemies of truth. 

Cri. — Porphyry, I grant, was a thorough infidel, tho* 
he appears by no means to have been incredulous. It 
feems he had a great opinion of wizards and necromanc- 
ers, and believed the myfteries, miracles, and prophecies 
of Theurgifts and Egyptian priefts. He was far from be- 
ing an enemy to obfeure jargon, and pretended to extra- 
ordinary extafies. In a word, this great man appears to 
have been as unintelligible as a fchoolman, as fuperfti- 
tious as a monk, and as fanatical as any quietift or qua- 
ker : and, to complete his character as Minute Philofo- 
pher, he was under ftrong temptations to lay violent 

* Am, Marcellin. 1. 05. 

f Luc Holftenius dc vita & fcriptis Porphyrii. 



3 i2 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. VI.] 

hands on himfelf. We may frame a notion of this patri- 
arch of infidelity, from his judicious way of thinking up- 
on other points, as well as the chriftian religion. So fa- 
gacious was he as to find out, that the fouls of infe&s, 
when feparated from their bodies, become rational : that 
demons of a thoufand fhapes aflift in making philtrums 
and charms, whofe fpiritual bodies are nourifhed and fat- 
tened by the fteams of libations and facrifices : That the 
ghofts of 'thofe, who died violent deaths, ufe to haunt and 
appear about their fepulchres. This fame egregious phi- 
lofopher advifeth a wife man not to eat flefh, left the impure 
foul of the brute that was put to violent death {hould en- 
ter, along with the flefh into thofe who eat it. He adds, 
as a matter of fa£t, confirmed by many experiments, that 
thofe who would infinuate into themfelves the fouls of 
fuch animals, as have the gift of foretelling things to come, 
need only eat a principal part, the heart, for inftance, of 
a ftag or a mole, and fo receive the foul of the animal, 
which will prophefy in them like a God.* No wonder 
if men, whofe minds were preoccupied by faith and tenets 
of fuch a peculiar kind, fhould be averfe from the recep- 
tion of the gofpel. Upon the whole, we defire to be ex- 
cufed, if we do not pay the fame deference to the judg- 
ment of men, that appear to us whimfical, fuperftitious, 
weak, and vifionary, which thofe impartial gentlemen do, 
who admire their talents, and are proud to tread in their 
footfteps. 

Alc. — Men fee things in different views : what one 
admires another contemns : it is even poffible for a preju- 
diced mind, whofe attention is turned towards the faults 
and blemifhes of things, to fancy fome fhadow of defect 
in thofe great lights, which in our own days have enlight- 
ened, and ftill continue to enlighten the world. 

* Vide Porphyrium de abftinentia, de facrificils, de piis, & demonlbu& 



[Dial. VI.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 313 

XXVI. But pray tell me, Crito, what you think of 
Jofephus ? He is allowed to have been a man of learning 
and judgment. He was himfelf an aiTerter of revealed 
religion. And chriftians, when his authority ferves their 
turn, are ufed to cite him with refpe£L 

Cm. — All this I acknowledge. 

Alc. — Mufl it not then feem very ftrange, and very 
fufpicious to every impartial inquirer, that this learned 
Jewy writing the hiftory of his own country, of that 
very place, and thofe very times, where and when Jefus 
Chrifl made his appearance, fhould yet fay nothing of the 
character, miracles, and doctrine of that extraordinary 
perfon ? Some ancient chriftians were fo fenfible of this, 
that, to make amends, they inferted a famous paffage in 
that hiftorian 5 which impofture hath been fufficiently de- 
tected by able critics in the laft age. 

Cri. — Though there are not wanting able critics on 
the other fide of the queftion, yet, not to enter upon the 
difcuflion of that celebrated paflage, I am content to give 
you all you can defire, and fuppofe it not genuine, but 
the pious fraud of fome wrong-headed chriftian, who 
could not brook the omiffion in Jofephus : But this will 
never make fuch omiffion a real objection againft chrif- 
tianity. Nor is there, for ought I can fee, any thing in 
it whereon to ground either admiration or fufpicion ; in- 
afrnuch as it (hould feem very natural, fuppofing the gof- 
pel account exactly true, for -Jofephus to have faid nothing 
of it ; confidering that the view of that writer was to give 
his country fome figure in the eye of the world, which 
had been greatly prejudiced againft the Jews, and knew 
little of their hiftory, to which end the life and death of 
our Saviour would not in any wife have conduced ; con- 
fidering that Jofephus could not have been an eye-witnefs 
of our Saviour or his miracles ; confidering that he was 
a Pharifee of quality and learning, foreign as well as 



3 i4 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. VI.] 

Jewi/h, one of great employment in the (late, and that the 
gofpel was preached to the poor -, that the fir ft inftruments 
of fpreading it, and the firft converts to it, were mean and 
illiterate, that it might not feem the work of man, or be- 
holden to human intereft or power ; confidering the gen- 
eral prejudice of the Jews, who expected in the Mefftah 
a temporal and conquering prince ; which prejudice was 
as flrong, that they chofe rather to attribute our Sav- 
iour's miracles to the devil, than to acknowledge him to 
be the Chrift : Confidering alfo the hellifh diforder and 
confufion of the Jewijh ftate in the days of Jofephus : 
when men's minds were filled and aftonifhed with unpar- 
alleled wars, diflenfions, maffacres, and feditions of that 
devoted people. Laying all thefe things together, I do 
not think it ftrange, that fuch a man, writing with fuch 
a view, at fuch a time, and in fuch circumftances, mould 
omit to defcribe our blefled Saviour's life and death, or 
to mention his miracles, or to take notice of the ftate of 
the chriftian church, which was then as a grain of muft- 
ard feed, beginning to take root and germinate. And 
this will feem ftill lefs ftrange, if it be confidered, that 
the apoftles, in a few years after our Saviour's death, de- 
parted from Jerufa/em, fetting themfelves to convert the 
Gentiles, and were difperfed throughout the world ; that 
the converts in Jerufa/em were not only of the meaneft of 
the people, but alfo few •, the three thoufand added to 
the church in one day, upon Peter's preaching in that city, 
appearing to have been not inhabitants, but flrangers 
from all parts, affembled to celebrate the feaft of Petite- 
cojl ; and that all the time of Jofephus, and for feveral 
years after, during a fucceflion of fifteen bifhops, the 
chriftians at Jerufakm obferved the Mofaic law, * and 
were confequently, in outward appearance, one people 

* Sulp. Sever. Sacr. Hift. L ft. & Eufeb. Chron. lib. poller. 



[Dial. VI.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 315 

with the reft of the Jews, which muft have made them 
lefs obfervable. I would fain know what reafon we have 
to fuppofe, that the gofpel, which, in its firfts propaga- 
tion, feemed to overlook the great or confiderable men 
of this world, might not alfo have been overlooked by 
them, as a thing not fuited to their apprehenfions and 
way of thinking ? Befides, in thofe early times might not 
other learned Jews, as well as Gamaliel^ fufpend their 
judgment of this new way, as not knowing what to make 
or fay of it, being on one hand, unable to quit the notions 
and traditions in which they were brought up, and, on 
the other, not daring to refill or fpeak againfl the gofpel, 
left they fhould be found to fight againft God ? Surely at 
all events, it could never be expected, that an uncon- 
verted Jew fhould give the fame account of the life, mi- 
racles, and doctrines of Jefus Chrift, as might become a 
chriftian to have given : Nor, on the other hand, was it 
at all improbable, that a man of fenfe fhould beware to 
lefTen or traduce what, for ought he knew, might have 
been a heavenly difpenfation ; between which two courfes, 
the middle was to< fay nothing, but pafs it over, in a 
doubtful, or a refpe&ful filence. And it is obfervable, 
that where this hiftorian occafionally mentions Jefus Chrijl 
in his account of St. James's death, he doth it without 
any reflection, or faying, either good or bad, though at 
the fame time, he fhews a regard for the apoftle. It is 
obfervable, I fay, that fpeaking of Jefus, his expreflion 
is, who was called the Chrift, not who pretended to be 
the Chrift, or who was falfely called the Chrift, but lim- 
ply, tou legomenou Ckriftou. * It is evident, Jofephus 
knew there was fuch a man as Jefus, and that he was 
faid to be the Chrift, and yet he condemns neither him nor 
his followers ; which to me feems an argument in their 
favor. Certainly, if we fuppofe Jofephus to have known, 

f A<fts v. * Jof. Ant. L so. c 8. 



3 i6 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. VI.] 

or been perfuaded, that he was an impoftor, it will be 
difficult to account for his not faying fo in plain terms. 
But, if we fuppofe him in Gamaliel's way of thinking, 
who fufpended his judgment, and was afraid of being 
found to fight againft God, it mould feem natural for 
him to behave in that very manner, which, according to 
you, makes againft our faith, but I verily think, makes 
for it : But what if Jofephus had been a bigot, or even a 
fadducee y an infidel, an atheift ? What then ! we readily 
grant there might have been perfons of rank, politicians, 
generals, and men of letters, then as well as now, Jews, 
as well as E?iglijhmen y who believed no revealed religion : 
And that fome fuch perfons might poflibly have heard of 
a man in low life, who performed miracles by magic, with- 
out informing themfelves, or perhaps ever inquiring 
about his million and doctrine. Upon the whole, I can- 
not comprehend why any man mould conclude againft the 
truth ©f the gofpel, from Jofephus' % omitting to fpeak of it, 
any more than from his omitting to embrace it. Had the 
firft chriftians been chief priefts and rulers, or men of fci- 
ence and learning, like Philo and Jofephus , it might per- 
haps with better colour have been objected, that their re- 
ligion was of human contrivance, than now that it hath 
pleafed God by weak things to confound the ftrong. This 
I think fufficiently accounts, why, in the beginning, the 
gofpel might overlook or be overlooked by men of a cer- 
tain rank and character. 

XXVII. Alc. — And yet it feems an odd argument in 
proof of any doctrine, that it was preached by fimple 
people, to fimple people. 

Cri.— Indeed if there was no other atteftahon to the 
truth of the chriftian religion, this muft be owned a very 
weak one. But if a doctrine begun by inftruments, 
mean, as to all human advantages, and making its firft 



[Dial. VI.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. V y 

progrefs among thofe, who had neither wealth, nor art, nor 
power, to grace or encourage it, mould in a fhort time, by 
its own innate excellency, the mighty force of miracles, 
and the demon ftration of the fpirit, not only without, 
but againft, all worldly motives, fpread through the world, 
and fubdue men of all ranks and conditions of life, would 
it not be very unreafonable to reject or fufpecl: it, for the 
want of human means ? And might not this with much 
better reafon be thought an argument of its coming from 
God? 

Alc. — But dill an inquifitive man will want the tefti- 
mony of men of learning and knowledge. 

Cri. — But from the firft century onwards, there was 
never wanting the teftimony of fuch men who wrote 
learnedly in defence of the chriflian religion, who lived, 
many of them, when the memory of things was frefli, 
who had abilities to judge, and means to know, and who 
gave the cleared proofs of their conviction and fincerity. 

Alc. — But all the while thefe men were chriftians, 
prejudiced chriftians, and therefore their teftimony is to 
be fufpec~ted= 

Cri. — It feems then you would have Jews or heathens 
atteft to the truths of chriftianity. 

Alc. — That is the very thing I want. 

Cri. — But how can this be ? Or if it could, would 
not any rational man be apt to fufpedt fuch evidence, and 
afk, how it was poflible for a man really to believe fuch 
things himfelf, and not become a chriftian ? The apoftles 
and firft converts were thcmfelves Jews y and brought up 
in a veneration for the law of Mofes> and in all the preju- 
dices of that people : Many fathers, chriftian philofo- 
phers, and learned apologifts for the faith, who had been 
bred Gentiles, were without doubt imbued with prejudices 
of education : And if the finger of God, and force of 
truth converted both the one and the other from Judajfm, 



3i8 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. VI.] 

or Gentilifm, in fpite of their prejudices, to chriflianity, 
is not their teftimony fo much the ftronger ? You have 
then the fuffrages of both Jews and Gentiles , attefting to 
the truth of our religion, in the earlieft ages. But to 
expect or defire the atteftation of Jews remaining Jews, 
or of Gentiles remaining Gentiles, feems unreafonable : 
Nor can it be imagined that the teftimony of men, who 
were not converted themfelves, mould be the likelieft to 
convert others. We have indeed, the teftimony of hea- 
then writers to prove, That about the time of our Saviour's 
birth, there was a general expectation in the eaft, of a 
Mejfiah, or prince, who mould found a new dominion : 
That there were fuch people as chriftians : That they were 
cruelly perfecuted, and put to death : That they were 
innocent and holy in life, and worftiip : And that there 
did really exift in that time, certain perfons, and fa&s 
mentioned in the New Teftament : And for other points, 
we have learned fathers, feveral of whom had been, as 
I already obferved, bred heathens, to atteft their truth. 

Alc — For my part, I have no great opinion of the 
capacity or learning of the fathers, and many learned men, 
efpecially of the reformed churches abroad, are of the 
fame mind, which faves me the trouble of looking myfelf, 
into their voluminous writings. 

Cri. — I (hall not take upon me to fay, with the Minute 
Philofopher, Pomponatius,* that Origen, Bafil, Augujline, 
and divers other fathers, were equal to Plato, Arijlotle, 
and the greateft of the Gentiles, in human knowledge. 
But, if I may be allowed to make a judgment from what 
I have feen of their writings, I mould think feveral of 
them men of great parts, eloquence, and learning, and 
much fuperior to thofe who feem to undervalue them. 
Without any affront to certain modern critics, or tranfla- 
tors, Erafmus may be allowed a man of fine tafte, and a 

* Lib. d% immorulitate animas, 



[Dial. VI.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 31^ 

fit judge of fenfe and good writing, though his judgment 
in this point was very different from theirs. Some of our 
reformed brethren, becaufe the Romanijls attribute too 
much, feem to have attributed too little to them, from a 
very ufual, though no very judicious oppofition : Which 
is apt to lead men to remark defects, without making 
proper allowances, and to fay things which neither piety, 
candor, nor good fenfe require them to fay. 

XXVIII. Alc. — But though I fhould acknowledge, 
that a concurring teflimony of many learned and able men 
throughout the firft ages of chriftianity may have its weight, 
yet when I confider the great number of forgeries and 
herefies that fprung up in thofe times, it very much weak- 
ens their credit. 

Cri.— Pray, Alciphron> would it be allowed a good ar- 
gument in the mouth of a papift againft the reformation, 
that many abfurd feels fprung up at the fame time with 
it ? Are we to wonder, that when good feed is fowing, 
the enemy mould fow tares ? But at once to cut off fever- 
al objections, let us fuppofe in fact, what you do not de- 
ny poflible, that there is a God, a devil, and a revelation 
from heaven committed to writing many centuries ago. 
Do but take a view of human nature, and confider, what 
would probably follow upon fuch a fuppofition : And 
whether it is not very likely, there fhould be half-believers, 
miftaken bigots, holy frauds, ambitious, interefled, dif- 
puting, conceited, fchifmatical, heretical, abfurd men 
among the profefiors of fuch revealed religion, as well as 
after a courfe of ages, various readings, omiffions, tranf- 
pofitions, and obfeurities in the text of the facred oracles ? 
And if fo, I leave you to judge, whether it be reafona- 
ble to make thofe events an objection againft the being of 
a thing, which would probably and naturally follow upon 
the fuppofal of its being. 

Alc. — After all, fay what you will, this variety of 
opinions muft needs (hake the faith of a reafonable man. 



32« MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. VI.] 

Where there are fo many different opinions on the fame 
point, it is very certain they cannot all be true, but it is 
certain they may all be falfe. And the means to find out 
the truth ! When a man of fenfe fets about this inquiry, 
he finds himfelf on a fudden, ftartled and amufed with 
hard words and knotty queftions. This makes him aban- 
don the purfuit, thinking the game not worth the chace. 

Cri. — But would not this man of fenfe do well to con- 
fider, it muft argue want of difcernment, to reject divine 
truths for the fake of human follies ? Ufe but the fame 
candor and impartiality in treating of religion, that you 
would think proper on other fubje£ts. We defire no more, 
and expect no lefs. In law, in phyfic, in politics, where- 
ever men have refined, is it not evident they have been al- 
ways apt to run into difputes and chicane ? But will that 
hinder you from admitting there are many good rules, and 
juft notions, and ufeful truths in all thofe profeffions. 
Phyficians may difpute, perhaps vainly and unintelligibly, 
about the animal fyftem : They may aflign different cau- 
fes of diftempers, fome explaining them by the elementa- 
ry qualities, hot and cold, moifl and dry, others by chy- 
mical, others by mechanical principles : Yet this doth not 
hinder but the bark may be good for an ague, and rhu- 
barb for a flux. Nor can it be inferred from the differ- 
ent fects, which, from time to time, have fprung up in 
that profeffion, the dogmatic, for inftance, empiric, me- 
thodic, galenic, paracelfian, or the hard words, and 
knotty queftions, and idle theories, which have grown 
from them, or been ingrafted on them, that therefore we 
fhould deny the circulation of the blood, or reject their 
excellent rules about exercife, air, and diet. 

Alc — It feems you would fcreen religion by the ex- 
ample of other profeffions, all which have produced fe&s 
and difputes as well as chriftianity, which according to 
you may in itfelf, be true and ufeful, notwithstanding 



[Dial. VI.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 321 

many falfe and {ruitlefs notions ingrafted on it, by the 
wit of man. But certainly if this had been obferved, or 
believed by many acute reafoners, they would never have 
made the multiplicity of religious opinions, and contro- 
verfies, an argument againft religion in general. 

Crt. — How fuch an obvious truth fhould efcape men 
of fenfe and inquiry, I leave you to account : But I can 
very eafily account for grofs miftakes in thofe, who pafs 
for free-thinkers, without ever thinking : Or, if they do 
think, whofe meditations are employed on other points of 
a very different nature, from a ferious and impartial inqui- 
ry about religion. 

XXIX. But to return : What, or where is the profef- 
(ion of men, who never fplit into fchifms, or never talk 
nonfenfe ? Is it not evident, that, out of all the kinds of 
knowledge, on which the human mind is employed, there 
grow certain excrefcences, which may be pared off like 
the clippings of hair, or nails in the body, and with no 
worfe confequence. Whatever bigots or enthufiafts, 
whatever notional or fcholaftic divines may fay or think, 
it is certain, the faith derived from Chrift, and his apof- 
tles, was not a piece of empty fophiflry : They did not 
deliver and tranfmit down to us kenen apaten gumnen gnomen 
to ufe the expreffion of a holy confeffor.* And to pretend to 
demolifh their foundation for the fake of human fuperftruc- 
ture, be it hay or ftubble, or what it will, is no argument of 
juft thought or reafon ; any more than it is of fairnefs, to fup- 
pofe a doubtful fenfe fixed, and argue from one fide of 
the queftion in difputed points. Whether, for inftance, 
the beginning of Gene/is is to be underftood in a literal or 
allegorical fenfe ? Whether the book of Job be an hiflory 
or a parable ? Being points difputed between chriflians, 
an infidel can have no right to argue from one fide of the 

* Socr. Hiftor. Ecclef. 1. 

R r 



322 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. VI.] 

queftion in thofe, or the like cafes. This or that tenet 
of a feci:, this or that controverted notion is not what we 
contend for at prefent, but the general faith, taught by 
Chrift and his apoftles, and preferved by univerfal and 
perpetual tradition, in all the churches down to our own 
times. To tax or ftrike at this divine doctrine, on account 
of things foreign and adventitious, the fpeculations and 
difputes of curious men, is in my mind, an abfurdity of 
the fame kind, as it would be to cut down a fine tree, 
yielding fruit and (hade, becaufe its leaves afforded nour- 
ishment to caterpiliers, or becaufe fpiders may now and 
then weave cobwebs among the branches. 

Alc. — To divide and diftinguifh would take time. We 
have feveral gentlemen very capable of judging in the 
grofs, but that want attention for irkfome and dry ftudies 
or minute inquiries. To which, as it would be very hard 
to oblige men againft their will, fo it mull be a great wrong 
to the world, as well as themfelves, to debar them from 
the right of deciding according to their natural fenfe of 
things. 

Cri. — It were to- be wiflied thofe capable men would 
employ their judgment and attention on the fame objects. 
If theological inquires are unpalatable, the field of nature 
is wide. How many difcoveries to be made ! How ma- 
ny errors to be corrected in arts and fciences ! How many 
vices to be reformed in life and manners ! Why do men 
fingle out fuch points as are innocent and ufeful, when 
there are fo many pernicious miftakes to be amended ? 
Why fet themfelves to deftroy the hopes of human kind 
and encouragements to virtue ? Why delight to judge 
where they difdain to inquire 2 Why not employ their no- 
ble talents on the longitude or perpetual motion ? 

Alc. — I wonder you would not fee the difference be- 
tween points of curiofity and religion. Thofe employ 
only men of a genius or humor fuited to them : But all 



[Dial. VI.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 323 

mankind have a right to cenfure, and are concerned to 
judge of thefe, except they will blindly fubmit to be gov- 
erned, by the dale wifdom of their anceftors and the ef- 
tablifhed laws of their country. 

Cri. — It mould feem, if they are concerned to judge, 
they are not lefs concerned to examine before they judge. 

Alc — But after all the examination, and inquiry, that 
mortal man can make about revealed religion, it is im- 
poflible to come at any rational fure footing. Strange 
things are told us, and in proof thereof, it is faid, that 
men have laid down their lives. But it may be eafily 
conceived, and hath been often known, that men have 
died for the fake of opinions, the belief of which, wheth- 
er right or wrong, had once pofTefTed their minds. 

Cri. — I grant you may find inftances of men dying for 
falfe opinions which they believed. But can you aflign 
an inftance of a man's dying for the fake of an opinion, 
which he did not believe. This cafe is inconceivable : 
And yet this muft have been the cafe, if the witnefles 
of ChrifrVs miracles and refurre&ion are fuppofed impof- 
tors. 

XXX. There is, indeed, a deal of fpecious talk about 
faith, founded upon miracles : But when I examine this 
matter thoroughly, and trace chriftian faith up to its origin- 
al, I find it refts upon much darknefs, and fcruple, and 
uncertainty. Inftead of points evident or agreeable to hu- 
man reafon, I find a wonderful narrative of the Son of 
God tempted in the wildernefs by the devil, a thing ut- 
terly unaccountable, without any end, or ufe, or reafon 
whatfoever. I meet with ftrange hiftories of apparitions 
of angels and voices from heaven, with furprifing accounts- 
of demoniacs, things quite out of the road of common 
fenfe or obfervation, with feveral incredible feats, faid to 
have been done by divine power, but more probably the 
inventions of men : Nor the lefs likely to be fo, bccaufe 



3 2 4 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. VI.] 

I cannot pretend to fay with what view, they were invent- 
ed. Defigns deeply laid are dark, and the lefs we know, 
the more we fufpecl : But, admitting them for true, I 
fhall not allow them to be miraculous, until I thoroughly 
know the power of what are called fecond caufes and the 
force of magic. 

Cri.— You feem, Alciphron, to analyfe not faith, but 
infidelity, and trace it to its principles ; which, from your 
own account, I collecl: to be dark and doubtful fcruples 
and furmifes, haftinefs in judging, and narrownefs in 
thinking, grounded on a fanciful notion, which over-rates 
the little fcantling of your own experience, and on real 
ignorance of the views of Providence, and of the quali- 
ties, operations, and mutual refpe£ts of the feveral kinds 
of beings, which are, or may be, for ought you know, 
in the univerfe. Thus obfcure, uncertain, conceited, and 
conjectural are the principles of infidelity. Whereas, on 
the other hand, the principles of faith feem to me, points 
plain and clear. It is a clear point, that this faith in 
Chrift was fpread abroad throughout the world foon after 
his death. It is a clear point, that this was not effected 
by human learning, politics, or power. It is a clear point, 
that in the early times of the church, there were feveral 
men of knowledge and integrity, who embraced this faith, 
not from any, but againft all temporal motives. It is a 
clear point, that, the nearer they were to the fountain- 
head, the more opportunity they had to fatisfy themfelves 
as to the truth of thofe fa£ts, which they believed. It is 
a clear point, that the lefs intereft there was to perfuade, 
the more need there was of evidence to convince them. 
It is a clear point, that they relied on the authority of 
thofe, who declared themfelves eye-witneiTes of the mira- 
cles and refurreclion of Chrift. It is a clear point, that 
thofe profefied eye-witnefies fuffered much for this, their 
atteftation, and finally feded it with their blood. It is a 



[Dial. VI.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. • 325 

clear point, that thefe witnefTes, weak and contemptible 
as they were, overcame the world, fpread more light, 
preached purer morals, and did more benefit to mankind, 
than all the philofophers and fages put together. Thefe 
points appear to me clear and fure, and, being allowed 
fuch, they are plain, juft, and reafonable motives of af- 
fent : They ftand upon no fallacious ground, they contain 
nothing beyond our fphere, neither fuppofmg more knowl- 
edge, nor other faculties, than we are really mafters of : 
And if they mould not be admitted for morally certain, 
as I believe they will, by fair and unprejudiced inquirers, 
yet the allowing them to be only probable, is fufficient to 
flop tlie mouth of an infidel. Thefe plain points, I fay, 
are the pillars of our faith, and not thofe obfeure ones, by 
you fuppt>fed, which are in truth, the unfound, uncertain 
principles of infidelity, to a rafh, prejudiced, and affum- 
ing fpirit. To raife an argument, or anfwer an objection, 
from hidden powers of nature or magic, is groping in 
the dark : But by the evident light of fenfe, men might 
be fufficiently certified of fenfible effects, and matters of 
fa£t, fuch as the miracles and refurre&ion of Chrift : And 
the teftimony of fuch men might be transmitted to after- 
ages, with the fame moral certainty, as other hiftorical 
narrations : And thofe fame miraculous fads, compared 
by reafon with the doctrines they were brought to prove, 
may afford to an unbiafled mind, flrong indications of their 
coming from God, or a fuperior principle, whofe good- 
nefs retrieved the moral world, whofe power commanded 
the natural, and whofe Povidence extended over both. — 
Give me leave to fay, that nothing dark, nothing incom- 
prehenfible, or myfterious, or unaccountable, is the ground 
or motive, the principle or foundation, the proof or rea- 
fon of our faith, although it may be the object of it. 
For it muft be owned, that, if by clear and fure princi- 
ples, we are rationally led to believe a point lefs clear ; wc 



326 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. VI.] 

do not, therefore, reject fuch point, becaufe it is myfte- 
rious to conceive, or difficult to account for ; nor would 
it be right fo to do. As for Jews and Gentiles, ancient- 
ly attributing our Saviour's miracles to magic, this is fo 
far from being a proof againft them, that to me it feems, 
rather a proof of the facts, without difproving the caufe 
to which we afcribe them. As we do not pretend 
to know the nature and operations of demons, the 
hiftory, laws, and fyftem of rational beings, and the 
fchemes or views of Providence, fo far as to account for 
every action and appearance, recorded in the gofpel : So 
neither do you know enough of thofe things, to be able 
from that knowledge of yours, to object againfl accounts 
fo well attefted. It is an eafy matter to raife fcruples 
upon many authentic parts of civil hiftory, which, requir- 
ing a more perfect knowledge of facts, circumftances, 
and councils, than we can come at to explain them, muft 
be to us inexplicable. And this is ftill more eafy, with 
refpect to the hiftory of nature ; in which, if furmifes 
were admitted for proofs againft things odd, ftrange, and 
unaccountable ; if our fcanty experience were made the 
rule and meafure of truth, and all thofe phenomena re- 
jected, that we, through ignorance of the principles, 
and laws, and fyftem of nature, could not explain ; we 
mould indeed make difcoveries, but it would be only of our 
own blindnefs and prefumption. And why, that men 
are fo eafily and fo often gravelled in common points, in 
things natural and vifible, mould yet be fo fharp-fighted 
and dogmatical about the invifible world, and its myfte- 
ries, is to me a point utterly unaccountable by all the 
rules of logic and good fenfe. Upon the whole, there- 
fore, I cannot help thinking that there are points, fuffi- 
ciently plain, and clear, and full, whereon a man may 
ground a reafonable faith in Chrift : But that the attacks 
of Minute Philosophers, againft this faith, are grounded 
upon darknefs, ignorance and prefumption. 



[Dial. VI.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 327 

Alc. — I doubt I fhall (till remain in the dark, as to the 
proofs of the chriftian religion, and always prefume there 
is nothing in them. 

XXXI. For how is it poflible, at this remote diftance, 
to arrive at any knowledge, or frame any demonftration 
about it ? 

Cri. — What then ? Knowledge, I grant, in a ftri& 
fenfe, cannot be had without evidence, or demonftra- 
tion : but probable arguments are a fufficient ground of 
faith. Who ever fuppofed that fcientifical proofs are 
neceffary to make a chriftian ? Faith alone is required, 
and, provided that, in the main, and upon the whole, 
men are perfuaded, this faving faith may confift with 
fome degrees of obfcurity, fcruple, and error. For, al- 
though the light of truth be unchangeable, and the fame 
in its eternal fource, the father of lights : Yet, with 
refpect to us, it is varioufly weakened and obfcured, by 
palling through a long diftance, or grofs medium, where 
it is intercepted, diftorted, or tin&ured by the prejudi- 
ces and paflions of men. But, all this, notwithstanding, 
he that will ufe his eyes, may fee enough for the pur- 
pofes, either of nature or of grace ; though by a light 
dimmer indeed, or clearer, according to the place, or the 
diftance, or the hour, or the medium. And it will be 
fufHcient, if fuch analogy appears between the difpenfa- 
tions of grace and nature, as may make it probable 
(although much fhould be unaccountable in both) to fup- 
pofe them derived from the fame author, and the work- 
manfhip of one, and the fame hand. 

Alc— Thofe who faw, and touched, and handled 
Jefus Chrift after his refurre&ion, if there were any fuch, 
may be faid to have feen by a clear light : But to us, the 
light is very dim, and yet it is expected we (hould believe 
this point as well as they. For my part, I believe with 



3 i8 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. VI.] 

Spinofiy that Chrift's death was literal, but his rcfurrec- 
tion allegorical. * 

Cri. — And for my part, I can fee nothing in this cel- 
ebrated infidel, that fhculd make me defert matters of fac~r, 
and moral evidence, to adopt his notions. Though I muft 
needs own, I admit an allegorical refurrre£fcion, that 
proves the real : to wit, a refurre&ion of ChrifVs difci- 
ples from weaknefs to refolution, from fear to courage, 
from defpair to hope : of which, for ought I can fee, no 
rational account can be given, but the fenfible evidence, 
that our Lord was truly, really, and literally rifen from 
the dead : But as it cannot be denied, that his difciples, 
who were eye-witnefTes of his miracles and refurre&ion, 
had flronger evidence than we can have of thefe points : 
So it cannot be denied, that fuch evidence was then more 
necefTary, to induce men to embrace a new inftitution, 
contrary to the whole fyftem of their education, their 
prejudices, their paflions, their interefts, and every hu- 
man motive. Though to me it feems, the moral evidence 
and probable arguments within our reach, are abundantly 
fufficient to make prudent, thinking men, adhere to the 
faith, handed down to us from our anceftors, eftablifhed 
by the laws of our country, requiring fubmiflion in points 
above our knowledge, and for the reft, recommending 
doctrines, the moft agreeable to our intcreft, and our 
reafon. And, however ftrong the light might have been 
at the fountain-head, yet its long continuance and propa- 
gation, by fuch unpromifing inftruments throughout the 
world, have been very wonderful. We may now take a 
more comprehenfive view of the connexion, order, and 
progrefs of the divine difpenfations, and by a retrofpe£fc 
on a long feries of part ages, perceive a unity of defign, 
running throughout the whole, a gradual difclofing, and 
fufilling the purpofes of Providence, a regular progrefs 

* Vid- Spinofae EpLft. ad Oldenburgium. 



[Dial. VI.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 329 

from types to anti-types, from things carnal to things 
fpiritual, from earth to heaven. We may behold Chrifi 
crucified, that ftumbling-block to the Jews, and fooliih- 
nefs to the Greeks, putting a final period to the temple 
worfhip of the one, and idolatry of the other, and that 
ftone, which was cut out of the mountain without hands, 
and brake in pieces all other kingdoms, become itfelf a 
great mountain. 

XXXII. If a due reflexion on thefe things be not fuf- 
ficient to beget a reverence for the chriftian faith in the 
minds of men, I fhould rather impute it to any other 
caufe, than a wife and cautious incredulity : "When I fee 
their eafinefs of faith in the common concerns of life, 
where there is no prejudice or appetite to bias or difturb 
their natural judgment : When I fee thofe very men that, 
in religion, will not ftir a ftep without evidence, and at 
every turn expect demonftration, truft their health to a 
phyfician, and their lives to a failor, with an implicit faith, 
I cannot think they deferve the honor of being thought 
more incredulous than other men : Or that they are more 
accuftomed to know, and for this reafon lefs inched to 
believe. On the contrary, one is tempted to fufpecl:, that 
ignorance hath a greater fhare than fcience in our modern 
infidelity : And that it proceeds more from a wrong head, 
or an irregular will, than from deep refearches. 

Lys. — We do not, it muft be owned, think that learn- 
ing, or deep refearches, are neceflary to pafs a right judg- 
ment upon things. I fometimes fufpecl: that learning is 
apt to produce and juftify whims, and fmcerciy believe 
we fhould do better without it. Our feci: are divided on 
this point, but much the greater part think with me. I 
have heard more than once, very obferving men remark, 
that learning was the true human means which prefervcd 
religion in the world : And that, if we had it in our power 
to prefer blockheads in the church, all would foon be right, 

S s 



33 o MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial* VI] 

Cri. — Men mu(t be ftrangely in love with their opin- 
ions, to put out their eyes rather than part with them. 
But it has been often remarked by obferving men, that 
there are no greater bigots than infidels. 

Lys. — What ! A free-thinker, and a bigot, impoffible ! 

Cri. — Not fo impoffible neither, that an infidel mould 
be bigoted to his infidelity. Methinks I fee a bigot, 
wherever I fee a man over-bearing, and pofitive without 
knowing why, laying the greateft ftrefs on points of fmall- 
cft moment, hafty to judge of the confcience, thoughts, 
and inward views of other men, impatient of reafoning 
againft his own opinions, and choofing them with incli- 
nation rather than judgment, an enemy to learning, and 
attached to mean authorities. How far our modern infi- 
dels agree with this description, I leave to be confidered 
by thofe who really confider and think for themfelves. 

Lys. — We are no bigots, we are men that difcover diffi- 
culties in religion, that tie knots and raife fcruples, which 
difturb the repofe, and interrupt the golden dreams of 
bigots, who therefore cannot endure us. 

Cri.— —They who caft about for difficulties, will be 
fure to find, or make them upon every fubjecl: : But he 
that would, upon the foot of reafon, erecl: himfelf into 
a judge, in order to make a wife judgment on a fubjecl: 
of that nature, will not only confider the doubtful and 
difficult parts of it, but take a comprehenfive view of the 
whole, confider it in all its parts and relations, trace it to 
its original, examine its principles, effects, and tenden- 
cies, its proofs internal and external : he will diftinguifh 
between the clear points and the obfcure, the certain and 
uncertain, the efiential and the circumftantial, between 
what is genuine and what foreign. He will confider the 
different forts of proof, that belong to different things : 
where evidence is to be expected : Where probability may 
iuffice : And where it is reafonable to fuppofe there fhould 



[Dial. VI.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 331 

be doubts and fcruples. He will proportion his pains and 
exa&nefs to the importance of the inquiry, and check 
that difpofition of his mind to conclude all thofe notions, 
groundlefs prejudices, with which it was imbued before 
it knew the reafon of them. He will filence his paflions, 
and liften to truth. He will endeavor to untie knots as 
well as to tie them, and dwell rather on the light parts of 
things, than the obfcure. He will balance the force of 
his underftanding with the difficulty of the fubje£t, and 
to render his judgment impartial, hear evidence on all 
fides, and fo far as he is led by authority, choofe to follow 
that of the honefteft and wifeft men. Now it is my fin- 
cere opinion, the chriftian religion may well ftand the 
teft of fuch an inquiry. 

Lys.— — But fuch an inquiry would coft too much pains 
and time. We have thought of another method, the 
bringing religion to the teft of wit and humour : This we 
find a much fhorter, eafier, and more effectual way. 
And, as all enemies are at liberty to choofe their weapons, 
we make choice of thofe we are moft expert at : And we 
are the better pleafed with this choice, having obferved 
that of all things, a folid divine hates a jell. 

Euph. — To confider the whole of the fubjecl:, to read 
and think on all fides, to objecT: plainly, and anfwer di- 
rectly, upon the foot of dry reafon and argument, would 
be a very tedious and troublefome affair. Befides it is at- 
tacking pedants at their own weapons. How much more 
delicate and artful is it, to give a hint to cover one's felf, 
with an senigma, to drop a double entendre, to keep it in 
one's power to recover, and flip afide, and leave his an- 
tagonift beating the air ? 

Lys.— This hath been pra&ifed with great fuccefs, and 
I believe it the top method to gain profelytes, and con- 
found pedants. 



332 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. VI.] 

Cri. — I have feen feveral things written in this, way, 
which, I fuppofe, were copied from the behavior of a fly 
fort of fcorners, one may fometimes meet with. Sup- 
pofe a conceited man that would pafs for witty, tipping 
the wink upon one, thrufting out his tongue at another ; 
one while waggifhly fmiling, another with a grave mouth 
and ludicrous eyes ; often affe&ing the countenance of 
one who fmothered a jeft, and fometimes bursting out in 
a horfe-laugh : What a figure would this be, I will not 
fay in the fenate or council, but in a private vifit among 
well-bred men ? And yet this is the figure that certain great 
authors, who in this age, would pafs for models, and do 
pafs for models, make in their polite and elaborate writings 
on the moft weighty points. 

Alc. — I, who profefs myfelf an admirer, an adorer 
of reafon, am neverthelefs obliged to own, that in fome 
cafes, the fharpnefs of ridicule can do more than the 
ftrength of argument. But if we exert ourfelves in the 
ufe of mirth and humor, it is not for want of other wea- 
pons. It mail never be faid, that a free-thinker was afraid 
of reafoning. No Crito, we have reafons in ftore : The 
beft are yet to come : And if we can find an hour for an- 
other conference before we fet out to-morrow morning, 
I'll undertake you (hall be plied with reafons, as clear, 
and home, and clofe to the point as you could wifh. 



:>o<>0'-o< >o<><::>< 



THE 

SEVENTH DIALOGUE. 

I. Chriftian Faith impofftble. II. Words Jiand for Ideas. 
: III. No Knowledge or Faith without Ideas. IV. Grace, 
no Idea of it. V. Suggefling Ideas not the only life of 
Wards. VI. Force as difficult to form an Idea of as 
Grace. VII. Notwithstanding which, ufeful Proportions 
may be formed concerning it. VIII. Belief of the Trini- 
ty and other Myfleries not abfurd. IX. Mi/lakes about 
Faith an Occafion of profane Raillery. X. Faith, its true 
Nature and Efecls. XI. Illuf rated by Science. XII. 
By Arithmetic in particular. XIII. Sciences converfant 
about Signs. XIV. The true End of Speech, Reafon, 
Science, and Faith. XV. Metaphyseal Objections as 
Jlrong again/} Human Sciences as Articles of Faith. XVI. 
No Religion, becau/e no Human Liberty . >XVII. Farther 
Proof againfl Human Liberty. XVIIL Fatalifm a Con- 
fequence of erroneous Suppofitions . XIX. Man an ac- 
countable Agent. XX. Inconftflency, Singularity, and 
Credulity of Minute Philofophers. XXI. Untroden Paths 
and new Light of the Minute Philofophers. XXII. So- 
phiflry of the Minute Philofophers. XXIII. Minute Phi- 
lofophers ambiguous, enigmatical, unfathomable. XXIV. 
Scepticifm of the Minute Philofophers. XXV. How a. 
Sceptic ought to behave. XXVI. Minute Philofophers, 
why difficult to convince. XXVII. Thinking, not the ep- 
idemical Evil of thefe times. XXVIII. Infidelity, not an 
Effecl of Reafon or Thought, its true Motives affigned. 
XXIX. Variety of Opinions about Religion, Effects there- 
of* XXX. Method for proceeding with Minute Philofo- 
phers. XXXI. Want of Thought, and want of Educa- 
tion Defects of the prefent Age. 



[Dial. VII.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 335 



"T, 



HE philofophers having refolved to fct out for 
London next morning, we aflembled at break of day in 
the library. Atciphron began witli a declaration of his 
fincerity, alluring us, he had very maturely and with a 
mod unbiased mind confidered all that had been faid, the 
day before. He added that, upon the whole, he could 
not deny feveral probable reafons were produced for em- 
bracing the chriftian faith. But, faid he, thofe reafons 
being only probable can never prevail againft abfolute cer- 
tainty and demonftration. If therefore, I can demon- 
ftrate your religion to be a thing altogether abfurd and in- 
confiftent, your probable arguments in its defence do, from 
that moment, lofe their force, and with it, all right to be 
anfwered or confidered. The concurring teftimony of 
fincere and able witneffes hath, without queftion, great 
weight in human affairs. I will even grant, that things 
odd and unaccountable to human judgment or experience, 
may fometimes claim our afTent on that fole motive.- — 
And I will alfo grant it poflible, for a tradition to be con- 
veyed with moral evidence through many centuries. But 
at the fame time, you will grant to me, that a thing de- 
monstrably and palpably falfe, is not to be admitted on any 
teftimony whatever, which at bed can never amount to 
demonftration. To be plain, no teftimony can make 
nonfenfe fenfe : No moral evidence can make contradic- 
tions confident. Know then, that as the ftrength of our 
caufe doth not depend upon, fo neither is it to be deci- 
ded by any critical points of hiftory, chronology, or lan- 
guages. You are not to wonder, if the fame fort of 
tradition and moral proof, which governs our afient with 
refpecl: to fa£ts in civil or natural hiftory is not admitted 
as a fuflicient voucher for metaphyfical abfurdities and ab- 
folute impoflibilities. Things obfcure and unaccountable 
in human affairs, or the operations of nature, may yet 



336 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. VIL] 

be poflible, and, if well attefted, may be aflented unto : 
But religious aflent, or faith, can be evidently fhewn in its 
own nature to be impracticable, impofiible, and abfurd. 
This is the primary motive to infidelity. This is our cita- 
del and fortrefs, which may, indeed, be graced with out- 
works of various erudition, but, if thofc are demolished, 
remains in itfelf, and of its own proper ftrength impreg- 
nable. 

Euph. — This, it muft be owned, reduceth our inquiry 
within a narrow compafs : Do but make out this, and I 
(hall have nothing more to fay. 

Alc. — Know then, that the fhallow mind of the vuU 
gar, as it dwells only on the outward furface of things, 
and confiders them in the grofs, may be eafily impofed on. 
Hence a blind reverence for religious faith and myftery. 
But when an acute philofopher comes to difle£t and analyfe 
thefe points, the import ure plainly appears : And as he 
has no blindnefs, fo he has no reverence for empty no- 
tions, or, to fpeak more properly, for mere forms of 
fpeech, which mean nothing, and are of no ufe to man- 
kind. 

II. Words are figns : They do or fhould ftand for ideas ; 
which fo far as they fuggeft they are fignificant. But 
words that fuggeft no ideas are infignificant. He who an- 
nexeth a clear idea to every word he makes ufe of, fpeaks 
fenfe : But where fuch ideas are wanting, the fpeaker ut- 
ters nonfenfe. In order, therefore, to know whether any 
man's fpeech be fenfelefs and infignificant, we have no- 
thing to do but lay afide the words and confider the ideas 
fuggefted by them. Men, not being able immediately to 
communicate their ideas one to another, are obliged to 
make ufe of fenfible figns, or words ; the ufe of which is 
to raife thofe ideas in the hearer, which are in the mind 
of the fpeaker : And if they fail of this end, they ferve to 



[Dial. VII.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 337 

no purpofe. He, who really thinks hath a train of ideas 
fucceeding each other and connected in his mind : And 
when he exprefleth himfelf by difcourfe, each word fug- 
gefts a diftinft idea to the hearer or reader ; who by that 
means hath the fame train of ideas in his, which was in 
the mind of the fpeaker or writer. As far as this effect is 
produced, fo far the difcourfe is intelligible, hath fenfe 
and meaning. Hence it follows, that whoever can be 
fuppofed to underftand what he reads or hears, muft have 
a train of ideas raifed in his mind, correfpondent to the 
train of words read or heard. Thefe plain truths, to 
which men readily aflent in theory, are but little attended 
to in practice, and therefore deferve to be enlarged on, 
and inculcated however obvious and undeniable. Man- 
kind are generally averfe from thinking, though apt enough 
to entertain difcourfe either in themfelves or others : The 
effecl: whereof is, that their minds are rather ftored with 
names than ideas, the hulk of fcience rather than the 
thing. And yet thefe words without meaning do often 
make diftinttions of parties, the fubjecl: matter of their 
difputes, and the object of their zeal. This is the moft 
general caufe of error, which doth not influence ordina- 
ry minds alone, but even thofe who pafs for acute and 
learned philofophers, are often employed about names in- 
ftead of things or ideas, and are fuppofed to know when 
they only pronounce hard words, without a meaning. 

III. Though it is evident that, as knowledge is the per- 
ception of the connexion or difagreement between ideas, 
he who doth not diltinclly perceive the ideas marked by 
the terms, fo as to form a mental propofition anfwering to 
the verbal, cannot poflibly have knowledge : No more 
can he be faid to have opinion or faith which imply a weaker 
aflent, but ftill it muft be to a propofition, the terms of 
which, are underftood as clearly, although the agreement 
T t 



338 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. VII] 

or difagrecment of the ideas may not be fo evident, as in 
the cafe of knowledge. I fay, all degrees of aflent 
whether founded on reafon or authority, more or lefs co- 
gent, are internal acts of the mind, which alike terminate 
in ideas as their proper object : Without which there can 
be really no fuch thing as knowledge, faith, or opinion. 
We may perhaps raife a duft and difpute about tenets 
purely verbal : But what is this at bottom, more than 
mere trifling ? All which will be eafily admitted with ref- 
pect to human learning and fcience ; wherein it is an al- 
lowed method to expofe any doctrine or tenet, by {trip- 
ping them of the words, and examining what ideas are 
underneath, or whether any ideas at all ? This is often 
found the fhortaft way to end difputes, which might oth- 
ervvife grow, and multiply without end, the litigants nei- 
ther underflanding one another nor themfelves. It were 
needlefs to illuftrate what mines by its own light, and is ad- 
mitted by all thinking men. My endeavor fhall be only 
to apply it in the prefent cafe. I fuppofe I need not be at 
any pains to prove, that the fame rules of reafon and good 
fcnk, which obtain in all other fubjects, ought to take 
place in religion. As for thofe, who confider faith and 
reafon as two diftinct provinces, and would have us think 
good fenfe has nothing to do where it is moll concerned, 
I am refoived never to argue with fuch men, but leave 
them in quiet pofTeiTion of their prejudices. And now, for 
the particular application of what I have faid, I lliall not 
fingle out any nice difputed points of fchool divinity, -or 
thofe that relate to the nature and eflence of God, which 
being allowed infinite you might pretend to fcreen them, 
under the general notion of difficulties attending the na- 
ture of infinity. 

IV. Grace is the main point in the chriftian difpenfa- 
is cftner mentioned or more confidered 






[Dial. VII.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 339 

throughout the New Teftament ; wherein it is reprefent- 
ed as fomewhat of a very particular kind, diftin£t, from 
any thing revealed to the Jews, or known by the light of 
nature. This fame grace is fpoken of, as the gift of God, 
as coming by Jefus Chrifty as reigning, as abounding, as 
operating. Men are faid to fpeak through grace, to be- 
lieve through grace. Mention is made of the glory of 
grace, the riches of grace, the Rewards of grace. Chris- 
tians are faid to be heirs of grace, to receive grace, grow 
in grace, be ftrong in grace, to (land in grace, and to 
fall from grace. And laftiy, grace is faid to juftify, and 
to fave them. Hence chriitianity is Puled the covenant 
or difpenfation of grace. And it is well known, that no 
point hath created more controverfy in the church, than 
this doctrine of grace. "What difputes about its nature, 
extent, and effects, about univerfal, efficacious, fufEcient, 
preventing, irrefiflible grace, have employed the pens of 
proteftant as well as popim divines, of Janfemjls and Mo- 
lin'ijisy of Lutherans^ Calvinifls, and Arminians, as I have 
not the lead curiofity to know, fo I need not fay. It fuf- 
ficeth to obferve, that there have been, and are (till fub- 
fifting great contefls upon thefe points. Only one thing 
I fnould defire to be informed of, to wit, what is the clear 
and diftincl: idea marked by the word grace ? I pre- 
fume a man may know the bare meaning of a term, with- 
out going into the depth of all thofe learned inquiries. 
This furcly is an eafy matter, provided there is an idea an- 
nexed to fuch term. And if there is not, it can be nei- 
ther the fubject of a rational difpute, nor the object of 
real faith. Men may indeed impofe upon themfelves or 
others, and pretend to argue and believe, when at bottom 
there is no argument or belief, farther than mere verbal 
trifling. Grace taken in the vulgar fenfe, either for beau- 
ty, or favor, I can eafily underftand. But when it de- 



3 4o MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. VII.) 

notes an active, vital, ruling principle, influencing and ope- 
rating on the mind of man, diftimtl from every natural 
power or motive, I profefs myfelf altogether unable to 
underftand it, or frame any diftincl: idea of it : And, 
therefore, I cannot aflent to any propofition concerning 
it, nor confequently have any faith about it : And it is a 
felf-evident truth, that God obligeth no man to impoffibil- 
ities. At the requeit of a philofophical friend, I did caft 
an eye on the writings he (hewed* me of fome divines, 
and talked with others, on this fubje£t, but after all I had 
read or heard, could make nothing of it, having always 
found,- whenever I laid afide the word grace y and looked 
into my own mind, a perfect vacuity or privation of all ideas. 
And, as I am apt to think men's minds and faculties are 
made much alike, I fufpecl: that other men, if they 
examined what they call grace, with the fame exactnefs 
and indifference, would agree with me, that there was 
nothing in it but an empty name. This is not the only 
inftance, where a word often heard and pronounced, is 
believed intelligible, for no other reafon but becaufe it is 
familiar. Of the fame kind are many other points reput- 
ed neceiTary articles of faith. That which in the prefent 
cafe impofeth upon mankind, I take to be partly this. 
Men fpeak of this holy principle, as of fomething that 
a&s, moves, and determines, taking their ideas from cor- 
poreal things, from motion, and the force or Momentum 
of bodies, which being of an obvious and fenfible nature 
they fubftitute in place of a thing fpiritual, and incompre- 
henfible, which is a manifeft delufion. For though, the 
idea of corporeal force be ever fo clear and intelligible, 
it will not, therefore, follow, that the idea of grace, a 
thing perfectly incorporeal, miift be fo too. And though, 
we may reafon diftin&ly, perceive,' aflent, and form opin- 
ions about the one, it will by no means, follow that, we 
can do fo of the other. Thus it comes to pafs, that a 



[Dial. VII.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 341 

clear fenfible idea of what is real, produceth, or rather, 
is made a pretence for an imaginary, fpiritual faith, that 
terminates in no object ; a thing impoffible ! For there 
can be no afient, where there are no ideas : And where 
there is no aflent, there can be no faith : And what can- 
not be, that no man is obliged to. This is as clear as any 
thing in Euclid. 

V. Euph. — Be the ufe of v/ords or names, what it 
will, I can never think it is to do things impoffible. Let 
us then inquire what it is ? And fee if we can make fenfe 
of our daily practice. Words, it is agreed, are figns : 
It may not, therefore, be amifs to examine the ufe of oth- 
er figns, in order to know that of words. Counters, for 
inftance, at a card-table are ufed, not for their own fake, 
but only as figns fubftituted for money, as words are for 
ideas. Say now, Alciphron, is it neceflary every time 
thefe counters are ufed, throughout the whole progrefs of 
a game, to frame an idea of the diitinct, fum or value, 
that each reprefents ? 

Alc. — By no means : It is fufiicient, the players at 
firft agree on their refpedtive values, and at laft fubftitute 
thofe values in their ftead. 

Euph. — And in calling up a fum, where the figures 
(land for pounds, millings, and pence, do you think it 
necefiary, throughout the whole progrefs of the operation, 
in each ftep, to form ideas of pounds, millings, and 
pence ? 

Alc. — I do not, it will fuffice, if in the conclufion, 
thofe figures direct our actions with refpecl: to things. 

Euph. — From hence, it feems to follow, that words 
may not be infignificant, although they fhould not every 
time they are ufed, excite the ideas they fignify in our 
minds, it being fufiicient, that we have it in our power 
to fubftitute things or ideas for their figns when there is 



342 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. VII.] 

occafion. It feems alfo to follow, that there may be 
another ufe of words, befides that of marking and fug- 
gefting diftinct ideas, to wit, the influencing our conduct 
and actions ; which may be done, either by forming rules 
for us to act by, or by railing certain paflions, difpofitions, 
and emotions in our minds. A difcourfe, therefore, that 
directs how to acl:, or excite to the doing or forbearance 
of an action may, it feems, be ufeful and fignificant, al- 
though the words whereof it is compofed, mould not bring 
each a diftinfr, idea into our minds. 

Alc. — It feems fo. 

Euph. — Pray tell me, Alciphron, is not an idea altogeth- 
er inactive ? 

Alc. — It is. 

Euph. — An agent, therefore, an active mind, or fpirit, 
cannot be an idea, or like an idea. Whence it mould 
feem to follow, that thofe words, which denote an active 
principle, foul, or fpirit, do not, in a ftrict, and proper 
fenfe, ftand for ideas : And yet they are not infignificant 
neither : Since I underftand what is fignified by the term /, 
or myfelf, or know what it means, although it be no idea, 
nor like an idea, but that which thinks and wills, and 
apprehends ideas and operates about them. Certainly it 
muft be allowed that we have fome notion, that we un- 
derftand, or know what is meant by the terms myfelf, will, 
memory, love, hate, and fo forth, although, to fpeak 
exactly, thefe words do not fuggeft fo many diftict ideas. 

Alc. — What would you infer from this ? 

Euph. — What hath been inferred already, that words 
may be fignificant, although they do not ftand for ideas.* 
The contrary whereof having been prefumed, feems to 
have produced the doctrine of abftract ideas. 

Alc — Will you not allow then, that the mind can ab- 
ftract ? . 

* See the Principles of Human Knowledge. Sect, 135. and the Intro- 
duction. Sect. 20. 



[Dial. VIL] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 343 

Euph. — I do not deny it may abftracl: in a certain 
fenfe ; inafmuch as thofe things that can really exift, or 
be really perceived afunder, may be conceived afunder, 
or abftracled one from the other ; for inftance, a man's 
head from his body, colour from motion, figure from 
weight. But it will not thence follow, that the mind can 
frame, abftracl: general ideas, which appear to be impof- 
fible. 

Alc. — And yet it is a current opinion, that every fub- 
ftantive name marks out, and exhibits to the mind, one 
diftincl: idea feparate from all others. 

Euph. — Pray, Alciphron y is not the word number, fuch 
a fubftantive name ? 

Alc. — It is. 

Euph. — Do but try now, whether you can frame an 
idea of number, in abftract exclufive of all figns, words, 
and things numbered. I profefs, for my own part, I 
cannot. 

Alc. — Can it be fo hard a matter to form a fimple idea 
of number, the object of a mod evident demonftrable 
fcience ? Hold, let me fee, if I cannot abftracl: the idea 
of number, from the numeral names and characters, and 
all particular numerable things. Upon which, Alciphron 
paufed a while, and then faid : To confefs the truth, I do 
not find that I can. 

Euph. — But though, it feems, neither you nor I can 
form diftincl:, fimple ideas of number, we can neverthe- 
Iefs, make a very proper and fignificant ufe of numeral 
names. They direct us in the difpofition, and manage- 
ment of our affairs, and are of fuch necefTary ufe, that 
we (liould not know how to do without them. And yet, 
if other men's faculties may be judged of by mine, to 
attain a precife, fimple abftracl: idea of number, is as diffi- 
cult as to comprehend any myftery in religion. 



344 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. VII.] 

" VI. But to come to your own inftance, let us examine 
what idea we can frame of force abftra&ed from body, 
motion, and outward fenfible efFe£ts. For myfelf, I do 
not find that I have or can have any fuch idea. 

Alc. — Surely every one knows what is meant by force. 

Euph. — And yet I queftion whether every one can 
form a diftin6t idea of force. Let me intreat you, Alci- 
phron, be not amufed by terms, lay afide the word force, 
and exclude every other thing from your thoughts, and 
then fee what precife idea you have of force. 

Alc— Force is that in bodies, which produceth motion 
and other fenfible effe&s. 

Euph. — It is then fomething diftindt from thofe effects. 

Alc. — It is. 

Euph. — Be pleafed now to exclude the confederation of 
its fubje£t and effects, and contemplate force itfelf in its 
own precife idea. 

Alc — I profefs I find it no fuch eafy matter. 

Euph. — Take your own advice, and fhutT your eyes to 
affift your meditation. Upon this, Alciphron having clof- 
ed his eyes, and mufed a few minutes, declared he could 
make nothing of it. And that, replied Euphranor, which 
it feems neither you nor I can»frame an idea of, by your 
own remark of men's minds and faculties being made 
much alike, we may fuppofe others have no more an idea 
of than we. 

Alc — We may. 

Euph. — But, notwithftanding all this, it is certain 
there are many fpeculations, reafonings, and difputes, 
refined fubtilities, and nice difiin&ions, about this fame 
force. And to explain its nature, and diftinguifh the fe- 
veral notions or kinds of it, the terms, gravity, reaclion, 
vis inertia, vis inftta, vis imprejfa, vis mortua, vis viva, 
impetus, momentum, folicitatio, conatus, and divers other 
fuch like expreflions, have been ufed by learned men : 



[Dial. VII.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 345 

and no fmall controverfies have arifen about the notions or 
definitions of thefe terms. It has puzzled men to know 
whether force is fpiritual or corporeal, whether it remains 
after action, how it is transferred from one body to ano- 
ther. Strange paradoxes have been framed about its na- 
ture, properties, and proportions : For inftance, that 
contrary forces may at once fubfift in the fame quiefcent 
body : That the force of percuffion in a fmall particle is 
infinite : For which, and other curiofities of the fame 
fort, you may confult Borellus de vi perciffionis, the Lez- 
ioni Academiche of Torricelli, the exercitations of Hermanus % 
and other writers. It is well known to the learned world, 
what a controverfy hath been carried on, between mathe- 
maticians, particularly Monfieur Leibnitz and Monfieur 
Papin in the Leipfic Acta Eruditorum, about the propor- 
tion of forces : Whether they be each to other in a pro- 
portion compounded of the fimple proportion of the bo- 
dies and the celerities, or in one compounded of the fimple 
proportion of the bodies, and the duplicate proportions of 
the celerities ? A point, it feems, not yet agreed : As in- 
deed the reality of the thing itfelf is made a queftion. 
Leibnitz diftinguifhed between the nifus elementaris, and 
the impetus, which is formed by a repetition of the nifus 
elementarisy and feems to think they do not exift in nature, 
but are made only by an abftraction of the mind. The 
fame author, treating of original, active force, to illuftrate 
his fubject hath recourfe to the fubftantial forms and En- 
telechtia of Ariflotle. And the ingenious Torricelli faith of 
force and Impetus, that they are fubtile ab (tracts and fpir- 
itual quintefiences : And concerning the momentum and 
the velocity of heavy bodies falling, he faith they are tin 
certo che and un non Jo che, that is plain Englifh, he knows 
not what to make of them. Upon the whole, therefore, 
may we not pronounce, that excluding body, time, fpace, 
motion, and all its fenfible meafures, and effects, we 

U u 



34 6 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. VII.] 

(hall find it as difficult to form an idea of force, as of 
grace ? 

Alc.— I do not know what to think of it. 

VII. Euph.— And yet, I prefume, you allow there 
are very evident proportions or theorems, relating to force, 
which contain ufeful truths : for inftance, that a body 
with conjunct forces, defcribes the diagonal of a paralle- 
logram, in the fame time that it would the fides with fep- 
arate. Is not this a principle of very extenfive ufe ? Doth 
not the doctrine of the compofition and refolution of for- 
ces depend upon it, and in confequence thereof, number- 
lefs rules and theorems, directing men how to act, and 
explaining Phenomena, throughout the mechanics and 
mathematical philofophy ? And if, by confidering this 
doctrine of force, men arrive at the knowledge of many 
inventions in mechanics, and are taught to frame engines, 
by means of which things difficult, and otherwife impof- 
fible may be performed ; and if the fame doctrine, which 
is fo beneficial here below, ferveth alfo as a key to discov- 
er the nature of the celeltial motions ; (hall we deny that 
it is of ufe, either in practice or fpeculation, becaufe we 
have no diftinct idea of force ? Or that which we admit 
with regard to force y upon what pretence can we deny, 
concerning grace ? If there are queries, difputes, per- 
plexities, diversity of notions and opinions about the one, 
fo there are about the other alfo : If we can form no pre- 
cife diftinct idea of the one, fo neither can we of the 
other. Ought we not, therefore, by a parity of reafon, 
to conclude, there may be poflibly divers true and ufeful 
propofitions concerning the one, as well as the other ? 
And that grace may, for ought you know, be an object: 
of our faith, and influence our life and actions, as a 
principle, deftructive of evil habits, and productive of 
good ones, although we cannot attain a diftinct idea of 



[Dial. VII.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 347 

it, feparate, or abftracted from God, the Author, from 
man, the fubject, and from virtue and piety, its effects ? 

VIII. Shall we not admit the fame method of arguing, 
the fame rules of logic, reafon, and good fenfe to obtain 
in things fpiritual, and things corporeal, in faith and fci- 
ence ? And (hall we not ufe the fame candor, and make 
the fame allowances in examining the ravelations of God, 
and the inventions of men ? For ought I fee, that philo- 
fopher cannot be free from bias, and prejudice, or be faid 
to weigh things in an equal balance, who mall maintain 
the doctrine of force, and reject that of grace, who (hall 
admit the abftract idea of a triangle, and at the fame 
time ridicule the holy trinity. But, however partial or 
prejudiced other Minute Philosophers might be, you have 
laid it down for a maxim, that the fame logic, which ob- 
tains in other matters, muft be admitted in religion. 

Lys. — I think, Alciphron^ it would be more prudent to 
abide by the way of wit and humor, than thus to try re- 
ligion by the dry teft of reafon and logic. 

Alc— Fear not : By all the rules of right reafon, it 
is absolutely impoflible that any myftery, and leaft of all 
the trinity, mould really be the object of man's faith. 

Euph. — I do not wonder you thought fo, as long as 
you maintained that no man could affent to a propofition 
without perceiving or framing in his mind, diftinct ideas 
marked by the terms of it. But although terms are figns, 
yet having granted, that thofe figns may be fignificant, 
though they fhould not fuggeft ideas reprefented by them, 
provided they ferve to regulate and influence our wills, 
paflions, or conduct, you have confequently granted, that 
the mind of man may affent to propofitions containing 
fuch terms, when it is fo directed or affected by them, 
notwithftanding it mould not perceive diftinct ideas mark- 
ed by thofe terms. Whence it feems to follow, that a 



54 8 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. VII.] 

man may believe the do&rine of the trinity, if he finds 
it revealed in Holy Scripture, that the Father, the Son, 
and the Holy Ghoft are God, and that there is but one 
God ? Although he doth not frame in his mind, any ab- 
ftract, or diftinct ideas of trinity, fubftance, or perfonal- 
ity, provided, that this doctrine of a Creator, Redeemer, 
and Sanctifier makes proper impreffions on his mind, 
producing therein, love, hope, gratitude, and obedience, 
and thereby becomes a lively operative principle, influ- 
encing his life and actions, agreeably to that notion of fa- 
ving faith which is required in a chriftian. This, I fay, 
whether right or wrong, feems to follow from your own 
principles, and conceffions. But, for further fatisfa&ion, 
it may not be amifs to inquire, whether there be any thing 
parrallel to this chriftian faith, in the Minute Philofophy. 
Suppofe a fine gentleman or lady of fafhion, who are too 
much employed to think for themfelves, and are only free- 
thinkers at fecond hand, have the advantage of being be- 
times initiated in the principles of your feci;, by converting 
with men of depth and genius, who have often declared 
it to be their opinion, the world is governed either by fate, 
or by chance, it matters not which : Will you deny it pof- 
lible for fuch perfons to yield their aflent to either of thefe 
propositions ? 

Alc. — I will not. 

Euph. — And may not fuch their aflent, be properly 
called faith } 

Alc. — It may. 

Euph. — And yet it is pcflible, thofe difciples of the 
Minute Philofophy may not dive fo deep, as to be able to 
frame any ahftracl:, or precife, or any determinate idea 
whatfoever, either of fate, or of chance. 

Alc. — This too, I grant. 

Euph. — So that according to you, this fame gentleman 
or lady, may be faid to believe, or have faith, where they 
have not ideas. 



[Dial. VII.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 349 

Alc— They may. 

Euph.— And may not this faith, or perfuafion produce 
real effe&s, and fhew itfelf in the conduct, and tenor 
of their lives, freeing them from the fears of fuperfti- 
tion, 'and giving them a true relifh of the world, with a 
noble indolence, or indifference about what comes after. 

Alc— It may. 

Euph.' — And may not chriftians, with equal reafon, 
be allowed to believe the dignity of our Saviour, or that 
in him, God and man, make one perfon, and be verily 
perfuaded thereof, fo far as for fuch faith or belief, to be- 
come a real principle of life and conduct ? inafmuch as 
by virtue of fuch perfuafion, they fubmit to his govern- 
ment, believe his doctrine, and pra&ife his precepts, al- 
though they frame no abftracl: idea of the union between 
the divine and human nature ; nor may be able to clear 
up the notion of perfon to the contentment of a Minute 
Philofopher. To me, it feems evident, that if none but 
thofe who had nicely examined, and could themfelves ex- 
plain the principle of individuation in man, or untie the 
knots and anfwer the objections, which may be raifed even 
about human perfonal identity, would require of us to ex- 
plain the divine myfteries, we mould not be often called 
upon, for a clear and diftindt. idea of perfon in relation to 
the trinity, nor would the difficulties on that head, be of- 
ten objected to our faith. 

Alc. — Methinks, there is no fuch myflery in perfonal 
identity. 

Euph. — Pray, in what do you take it to confift ? 

Alc— In confcioufnefs. 

Euph.-— Whatever is poflible, may be fuppofed. 

Alc — It may. 

Euph. — We will fuppofe now (which is poflible in the 
nature of things, and reported to be facl) that a perfon, 
through fome violent accident or diftemper, mould fall ii>- 



350 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. VII.] 

to fuch a total oblivion, as to lofe all confcioufnefs of his 
pad life, and former ideas. I afk, is he not ftill the fame 
perfon ? 

Alc— -He is the fame man, but not the fame perfon. 
Indeed, you ought not to fuppofe that a perfon lofeth its 
former confcioufnefs ; for this is impoffible, though a man 
perhaps may ; but then he becomes another perfon. In 
the fame perfon, it muft be owned, fome old ideas may 
be loft, and fome new ones got : But a total change is in- 
confiftent with identity of perfon. 

Euph.— Let us then fuppofe that a perfon hath ideas, 
and is confcious during a certain fpace of time, which 
we will divide into three equal parts, whereof the later 
terms are marked by the letters, A, B, C. In the firfl 
part of time, the perfon gets a certain number of ideas, 
which are retained in A : during the fecond part of time, 
he retains one half of his old ideas, and lofeth the other 
half, in place of which he acquires as many new ones : 
So that in B, his ideas are half old and half new. And in 
the third part, we fuppofe him to lofe the remainder of 
the ideas acquired in the firft, and to get new ones in 
their ftead, which are retained in C, together with thofe 
acquired in the fecond part of time. Is this a poffible 
fair fuppofition ? 

Alc— It is. 

Euph, — Upon thefe premifes, I am tempted to think, 
one may demenftrate, that perfonal identity doth not 
confift in confcioufnefs. 

Alc. — As how ? 

Euph You mall judge ; but thus it feems to me. — 

The perfons in A and B are the fame, being confcious 
of common ideas by fuppofition. The perfon in B is (for 
the fame reafon) one and the fame with the perfon in C. 
Therefore the perfon in A, is the fame with the perfon in C, 
by that undoubted axiom, £$ua conveniunt uni tertio con- 
veniunt inter fe. But the perfon in C hath no idea in 



[Dial. VII.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 351 

common with the perfon in A. Therefore, perfonal iden- 
tity doth not confift in confcioufnefs. What do you 
think, Alcipkrotiy is not this a plain inference ? 

Alc. — I tell you what I think : You will never affift 
my faith by puzzling my knowledge. 

IX. Euph. — There is, if I miftake not, a practical faith, 
or afTent, which fheweth itfelf in the will and actions of 
a man, although his underftanding may not be furnifhed 
with thofe abftracl:, precife, diftinct, ideas, which, what- 
ever a philofopher may pretend, are acknowledged to be 
above the talents of common men ; among whom, ne- 
verthelefs, may be found, even according to your own 
conceflion, many inftances of fuch practical faith, in 
other matters which do not concern religion. What 
fhould hinder, therefore, but that doctrines relating to 
heavenly myfteries, might be taught in this faving fenfe 
to vulgar minds, which you may well think incapable of 
all teaching and faith in the fenfe you fuppofe. Which 
miftaken fenfe, faid Crito, has given occafion to much 
profane and mifapplied raillery. But all this may very 
juftly be retorted on the Minute Philofophers themfelves, 
who confound fcholafticifm with chriftianity, and im- 
pute to other men thofe perplexities, chimeras, and in- 
confiftent ideas, which are often the workmanfhip of their 
own brains, and proceed from their own wrong way of 
thinking. Who doth not fee that fuch an ideal abftra<£t- 
ed faith is never thought of by the bulk of chriftians, huf- 
bandmen, for inftance, artifans, or fervants ? Or what 
footfteps are there in the Holy Scripture to make us think, 
that the wiredrawing of abftracl; ideas was a talk injoined 
either Jews or chriftians ? Is there any thing in the law 
or the prophets, the evangelifts or apoftles, that looks 
like it ? Every' one, whofe underftanding is not pervert- 
ed by fcience, falfely fo called, may fee the faving faith 



35a MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. VII.] 

of chriftians is quite of another kind, a vital operative 
principle, productive of charity and obedience. 

Alc— What are we to think then of the difputes and 
decifions of the famous council of Nice, and fo many fub- 
fequent councils ? What was the intention of thofe vene- 
rable fathers, the Homooufians and the Homoiouftans ? Why 
did they difturb themfelves and the world with hard words 
and fubtle controversies ? 

Cri.—— Whatever their intention was, it could not be 
to beget nice abftra&ed ideas of myfteries in the minds 
of common chriftians, this being evidently impoffible : 
Nor doth it appear that the bulk of chriftian men did, in 
thofe days, think it any part of their duty, to lay a fide 
the words, fhut their eyes, and frame thofe abftracl: ideas ; 
any more than men now do of force, time, number, or 
feveral other things, about which they neverthelefs believe, 
know, argue, and difpute. To me it feems, that what- 
ever was the fource of thofe controversies, and howfoever 
they were managed, wherein human infirmity muft be 
fuppofed to have had its (hare, the main end was not, on 
either fide, to convey precife pofitive ideas to the minds 
of men, by the ufe of thofe contefted terms, but rather a 
negative fenfe, tending to exclude polytheifm on the one 
hand, and fabellianifm on the other.* 

Alc. — But what fhall we fay to fo many learned and 
ingenious divines, who, from time to time, have obliged 
the- world with new explications of myfteries, who hav- 
ing themfelves profefledly labored to acquire accurate ideas, 
would recommend their difcoveries and fpeculations to 
others for articles of faith ? 

Cri. — To all fuch innovators in religion, I would fay 
with Jerome, (i Why, after fo many centuries, do you 
pretend to teach us what v/as untaught before ? Why ex- 
plain what neither Peter nor Paul thought neceflary to be 

* Vid. Sozomen. 1. %. c. 8. 



[Dial. VIL] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 353 

explained ? f" And it muft be owned, that the explication 
of myfteries in divinity, allowing the attempt as fruitlefs 
as the purfuit of the philosopher's Hone in chymiftry, or 
the perpetual motion in mechanics, is no more than they, 
chargeable on the profeffion itfelf, but only on the wrong- 
headed profeflbrs of it. 

X. It feems, that whit hath been now faid, may be 
applied to other myfteries of our religion. Original fin, 
for inftance, a man may find it impofiible to form an idea 
of an abftract, or of the manner of its tranfmiflion, and 
yet the belief thereof may produce in his mind a falutary 
fenfe of his own unworthinefs, and the goodnefs of his 
Redeemer : From whence may follow good habits, and 
from them good actions, the genuine effects of faith : which 
confidered in its true light, is a thing neither repugnant nor 
incomprehenfible, as fome men would perfuade us, but fuit- 
ed even to vulgar capacities, placed in the will and affections 
rather than in the underftanding, and producing holy lives, 
rather than fubtile theories. Faith, I fay, is not an indo- 
lent perception, but an operative perfuafion of mind, 
which ever worketh fome fuitable action, difpofition, or 
emotion in thofe who have it : As it were eafy to prove 
and illuftrate by innumerable inftances taken from human 
affairs. And, indeed, while the chriftian religion is con- 
fidered as an inftitution fitted to ordinary minds, rather 
than' to the nicer taknt, whether improved or puzzled, 
of fpeculative men ; and our notions about faith are ac- 
cordingly taken from the commerce of the world, and 
practice of mankind, rather than from the peculiar fyf- 
tems of refiners ; it will, I think, be no difficult matter 
to conceive and juftify the meaning and ufe of our belief 
of myfteries, again ft the mod confident aflertions and ob- 
jections of the Minute Phil ofophers, who are eafily to be 

f Hieronym. ad Pammachium & Oceanum de erroribu§ Origeni* 
W w 



354 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. VII.j 

caught in thofe very fnares, which they have fpun and 
fpread for others. And that humor of controverfy, the 
mother and nurfe of herefies, would doubtlefs very much 
abate, if it was confidered that things are to be rated, not 
by the colour, fhape, or ftamp, fo truly as by the weight. 
If the moment of opinions had been by fome litigious di- 
vines made the meafure of their zeal, it might have fpar- 
ed much trouble both to themfelves and others. Cer- 
tainly one that takes his notions of faith, opinion, and 
afTent from common fenfe, and common ufe, and has ma- 
turely weighed the nature of figns and language, will not 
be fo apt to controvert the wording of a my fiery, or to 
break the peace of the church, for the fake of retaining 
or rejecting a term. But, to convince you, by a plain 
inftance, of the efficacious neceffary ufe of faith without 
ideas : We will fuppofe a man of the world, a Minute 
Philofopher, prodigal and rapacious, one of large appe- 
tites and narrow circumftances, who fhall have it in his 
power at once to feize upon a great fortune by one villan- 
ous act, a fingle breach of truft, which he can commit 
with impunity and fecrecy : Is it not natural to fuppofe 
him arguing in this manner ? All mankind in their fenfes 
purfue their intereft. The interefts of this prefent life 
are either of mind, body, or fortune. If I commit this 
fact, my mind will be eafy (having nought to fear here or 
hereafter) my bodily pleafures will be multiplied, and my 
fortune enlarged. Suppofe now, one of your refined 
theorifls talks to him about the harmony of mind and af- 
fections, inward worth, truth of character, in one word, 
the beauty of virtue ; which is the only intereft he can 
propofe, to turn the fcale againft all other fecular interefts 
and fenfual pleafures •, would it not, think you, be a vain 
attempt ? I fay, in fuch a juncture what can the moft 
plaufible and refined philofophy of your feet offer, to dif- 
fuade fuch a man from his purpofe, more than alluring 



[Dial. VII.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 355 

him that the abftra£ted delight of the mind, the enjoy- 
ments of an interior moral fenfe, the to kalon are what 
conftitute his true intereft ? And what efFecl: can this have 
on a mind callous to all thofe things, and at the fame time 
ftrongly afFedted with a fenfe of corporeal pleafures, and 
the outward intereft, ornaments, and conveniencies of 
life ? Whereas that very man, do but produce in him a 
iincere belief of a future (late, although it be a myftery, 
although it be what eye hath not feen, nor ear heard, nor 
hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive, he fhall 
neverthelefs, by virtue of fuch belief, be withheld from 
executing his wicked project : And that for reafons which 
all men can comprehend, though no body can the object 
of them. I will allow the points infilled on by your re- 
fined moralifts to be as lovely and excellent as you pleafe 
to a reafonable, reflecting, philofophical mind. But I 
will venture to fay, that, as the world goes, few, very 
few, would be influenced by them. We fee, therefore, 
the neceflary ufe as well as the powerful effects of faith, 
even where we have not ideas. 

XI. Alc — It feems, Euphranor and you, would per- 
fuade me into an opinion, that there is nothing fo Angularly 
abfurd as we are apt to think, in the belief of myfteries : 
And that a man need not renounce his reafon to maintain 
his religion. But if this were true, how comes it to pafs, 
that, in proportion as men abound in knowledge, they 
dwindle in faith ? 

Euph. — O Alciphrorij I have learned from you, that 
there is nothing like going to the bottom of things, and 
anaiyfing them into their firft principles. I (hall there- 
fore make an eflay of this method, for clearing up the 
nature of faith : With what fuccefs I fhall leave you to 
determine : For I dare not pronounce myfelf on my own 
judgment, whether it be right or wrong : But thus k 



356 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. VII.] 

fcems to me. The objections made to faith are by no 
means an effecT: of knowledge, but proceed rather from 
an ignorance of what knowledge is : Which ignorance 
may poflibly be found even in thofe who pafs for mailers 
of this or that particular branch of knowledge. Science 
and faith agree in this, that they both imply an affent of 
the mind : And, as the nature of the fir.ft is moft clear 
and evident, it fnould be firit confidercd in order to caft a 
light on the other. To trace things from their original, 
it feems that the human mind, naturally furnifhed with 
the ideas of things particular and concrete, and being de- 
figned, not for the bare intuition of ideas, but for action 
or operation about them, and purfuing her ov/n happinefs 
therein, ftands in need of certain general rules or theo- 
rems to direcl: her operations in this purfuit : The fupply- 
ing which want is the true, original, reafonable end of 
itudying the arts and fciences. Now thefe rules being 
general, it follows, that they are not to be obtained by 
the mere consideration of the original ideas, or particular 
things, but by the means of marks or figns, which, being 
fo far forth univerfal, become the immediate inftruments 
and materials of fcience. It is not, therefore, by mere 
contemplation of particular things, and much lefs of their 
abftracl: general ideas, that the mind makes her progrefs, 
but by an appofite choice and fkilful management of figns : 
For inftance, force and number, taken in concrete with 
their adjuncts, fubjecls, and figns, are what every one 
knows : And confidered in abftra£t, fo as making precife 
ideas of themfelves, they are what no body can compre- 
hend. That their abftracl: nature, therefore, is not the 
foundation of fcience, is plain : And that barely confid- 
ering their ideas in concrete, is not the method to advance 
in the refpe&ive fcience, is what every one that reflects 
may fee ; nothing being more evident, than that one, who 
can neither write nor read; in common life, underftands 



[Dial. VII.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 3^7 

the meaning of numeral words, as well as the bed philo- 
fopher or mathematician. 

XII. But here lies the difference : the one who under- 
stands the notation of numbers, by means thereof is able 
to exprefs briefly and diftin&ly all the variety and degrees 
of number, and to perform with eafe and difpatch feverai 
arithmetical operations, by the help of general rules. Of 
all which operations, as the ufe in human life is very evi- 
dent, fo it is no lefs evident, that the performing them de- 
pends on the aptnefs of the notation. If we fuppofe 
rude mankind, without the ufe of language, it may be 
prefumed, they would be ignorant of arithmetic : But 
the ufe of names, by the repetition whereof in a certain 
order they might exprefs endlefs degrees of number, 
would be the firft ftep towards that fcience. The next 
ftep would be, to devife proper marks of a permanent 
nature, and vifible to the eye, the kind and order whereof 
mult be chofe with judgment, and accommodated to the 
names. Which marking or notation would, in propor- 
tion as it was apt and regular, facilitate the invention and 
application of general rules, to aflift the mind in reafon- 
ing and judging, in extending, recording, and commu- 
nicating its knowledge about numbers : in which theory 
and operations, the mind is immediately occupied about 
the flgns or notes, by mediation of which it is directed to 
a£fc about things, or number in concrete (as the logicians 
call it) without ever confidering the fimple, abftracl:, in- 
tellectual, general idea of number. The figns, indeed, 
do in their ufe imply relations or proportions of things : 
but thefe relations are not abftracl general ideas, being 
founded in particular things, and not making of themfelves 
diftincl: ideas to the mind, exclufive of the particular 
ideas and the figns. I imagine one need not think much 
to be convinced, that the fcience of arithmetic, in its rife> 



353 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. VIL] 

operations, rules and theorems, is altogether converfant 
about the artificial ufe of figns, names, and characters. 
Thefe names and characters are univerfal, inafmuch as 
they are figns. The names are referred to things, the 
characters to names, and both to operation. The names 
being few, and proceeding by a certain analogy, the cha- 
racters will be more ufeful, the fimpler they are, and 
the more aptly they exprefs this analogy. Hence the 
old notation by letters was more ufeful than words writ- 
ten at length : And the modern notation by figures, ex- 
preffing the progreffion or analogy of the names by their 
fimple places, is much preferable to that, for eafe and ex- 
pedition, as the invention of algebraical fymbols is to this 
for extenfive and general ufe. As arithmetic and algebra 
are fciences of great clearnefs, certainty, and extent, 
which are immediately converfant about figns, upon the 
fkillful ufe and management whereof they intirely depend, 
fo a little attention to them may poflibly help us to judge 
of the progrefs of the mind in other fciences ; which, 
though differing in nature, defign, and object, may yet 
agree in the general methods of proof and inquiry. 

XIII. — If I miftake not, all fciences, fo far as they are 
univerfal and demonflrable by human reafon, will be 
found converfant about figns as their immediate object, 
though thefe in the application are referred to things : The 
reafon whereof is not difficult to conceive. For as the 
mind is better acquainted with fome fort of objects, which 
are earlier offered to it, ftrike it more fenfibly, or are 
more eafily comprehended than others, it feems naturally 
led to fubftitute thefe objects for fuch as are more fubtile, 
fleeting, or difficult to conceive. Nothing, I fay, is more 
natural, than to make the things we know, a ftep to- 
wards thofe we do not know : and to explain and repre- 
fent things lefs familiar by others which are more fo.— - 



[Dial. VIL] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 359 

Now, it is certain we imagine before we reflect ; and we 
perceive by fenfe before we imagine : and of all our fen- 
fes the fight is the mod clear, diftin£t, various, agreea- 
ble, and comprehensive. Hence it is natural to aflift in- 
tellect by imagination, imraagination by fenfe, and other 
fenfes by fight. Hence figures, metaphors, and types. 
We illuftrate fpiritual things by corporeal : we fubftitute 
founds for thoughts, and written letters for founds ; em- 
blems, fymbols, and hieroglyphics for things too obfcure 
to itrike, and too various or too fleeting to be retained. 
We fubftitute things imaginable for things intelligible, 
fenfible things for imaginable, fmaller things for thofe 
that are too great to comprehend eafily, and greater things 
for fuch as are too fmall to be difcerned diftinc"Hy, pre- 
fent things for abfent, permanent for perifhing, and vifi- 
ble for invifible. Hence the ufe of models and diagrams. 
Hence lines are fubflituted for time, velocity, and other 
things of very different natures. Hence we fpeak of fpi- 
rits in a figurative ftyle, exprefling the operations of the 
mind by allufions and terms, borrowed from fenfible 
things, fuch as apprehend^ conceive^ refleff> difcourfe, and 
fuch like : And hence thofe allegories which illuftrate 
things intellectual by vifions exhibited to the fancy. Plato^ 
for inftance, reprefents the mind prefiding in her vehicle 
by the driver of a winged chariot, which fometimes 
moults and droops and is drawn by two horfes, the one 
good, and of a good race, the other of a contrary kind ; 
fymbblically exprefling the tendency of the mind towards 
the divinity, as (he foars or is borne aloft by two inftincts 
like wings, the one in the intellect towards truth, the 
other in the will towards excellence, which inftin£ts 
moult or are weakened by fenfual inclinations : exprefling 
alfo her alternate elevations and depreflions, the ftruggks 
between reafon and appetite, like horfes that go an une- 
qual pace, or draw different ways, embarrafling the foul 



3 6o MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. VII.] 

in her progrefs to perfection. I am inclined to think the 
doctrine of figns a point of great importance, and gene- 
ral extent, which if duly confidered, would caft no fmall 
light upon things, and afford a juft and genuine folution 
of many difficulties. 

XIV. Thus much, upon the whole, may be faid of 
all figns : That they do not always fuggeft ideas fignified 
to the mind : That when they fuggeft ideas, they are not 
general abftracl: ideas : That they have other ufes befides 
barely {landing for and exhibiting ideas, fuch as railing 
proper emotions, producing certain difpofitions or habits 
of mind, and directing our actions in purfuit of that 
happinefs, which is the ultimate end and defign, the pri- 
mary fpring and motive, that fets rational agents at w r ork : 
That figns may imply or fuggeft the relations of things ; 
which relations, habitudes, or proportions, as they can- 
not be by us underftood but by the help of figns, fo being 
thereby expreffed and confuted they, direct and enable us 
to acl: with regard to things : That the true end of fpeech, 
reafon, fcience, faith, affent, in all its different degrees, 
is not merely, or principally, or always the imparting or 
acquiring of ideas, but rather fome thing of an active, 
operative nature,, tending to a conceived good ; which 
may fometimes be obtained, not only although the ideas 
marked are not offered to the mind, but even although 
there fhould be no poflibility of offering or exhibiting any 
fuch idea to the mind : For inftance, the algebraic mark, 
which denotes the root of a negative fquare, hath its ufe 
in logiftic operations, although it be impoffible to form 
an idea of any fuch quantity. And what is true of alge- 
braic figns, is alfo true of words or language, modern al- 
gebra being in fa£t a more fhort, appofite, and artificial 
fort of language, and it being pcfiible to exprefs by words 
at length, though lefs conveniently, all the fteps of an al- 



[Dial. VII.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 361 

gebraical procefs. And it muft be confefled, that even 
the mathematical fciences themfelves, which above all oth- 
ers are reckoned the mod clear and certain, if they are 
confidered, not as inftruments to direct our practice, but 
as fpeculations to employ our curiofity, will be found to 
fall fhort in many instances of thofe clear and diftin£t ideas, 
which, it feems, the Minute Philofophers of this age, 
whether knowingly or ignorantly, expect and iniift upon 
in the myfteries of religion. 

XV. Be the fcience or fubjecl: what it will, whenfoe- 
ver men quit particulars for generalities, things concrete 
for abftrattions, when they forfake practical views, and 
the ufeful purpofes of knowledge for barren fpeculation, 
confidering means and inftruments as ultimate ends, and 
loboring to obtain precife ideas, which they fuppofe indif- 
criminately annexed to all terms, they will be fure to em- 
barrafs themfelves with difficulties and difputes. Such 
are thofe which have fprung up in geometry about the na- 
ture of the angle of contact, the doctrine of proportions, 
of indivifibles, infinitelimals, and divers other points j 
notwithstanding all which, that fcience is^very rightly ef- 
teemed an excellent and ufeful one, and is really found 
to be fo in many occafions of human life 5 wherein it gov- 
erns and directs the actions of men, fo that by the aid or 
influence thereof, thofe operations become juft and accu- 
rate, which would otherwife be faulty and uncertain. 
And from a parity of reafon, we mould not conclude any 
other doctrines which govern, influence, or direcl: the 
mind of man to be, any more than that, the lefs true or 
excellent, becaufe they afford matter of controverfy and 
ufelefs fpeculation to curious and licentious wits : Partic- 
ularly thofe articles of our chriftian faith, which, in pro- 
portion as they are believed, perfuade, and, as they per- 
fuade, influence the lives and actions cf men. As to the 

X x 



362 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. VII.] 

perplexity of contradictions and abftrafted notions, in all 
parts, whether of human fcience or divine faith, cavillers 
may equally object, and unwary perfons incur, while the 
judicious avoid it. There is no need to depart from the 
received rules of reafoning to juitify the belief of chrif- 
tians. And if any pious men think otherwife, it may be 
fuppofed an efFecl:, not of religion or of reafon, but only 
of human weaknefs. If this age be fingularly productive 
of infidels, I (hall not, therefore, conclude it to be more 
knowing, but only more prefuming, than former ages : 
And their conceit, I doubt, is not the efFecl: of consider- 
ation. -To me it feems, that the more thoroughly and 
extensively any man fhall confider and fcan the principles, 
objects, and methods of proceeding in arts and fciences, 
the more he will be convinced, there is no weight in thofe 
plaufible objections that are made againft the myfteries of 
faith, which it will be no difficult matter for him to main- 
tain or juftify in the received method of arguing, on the 
common principles of logic, and by numberlefs avowed 
parrallel cafes, throughout the feveral branches of human 
knowledge, in all which the fuppofition of abftracl ideas 
creates the fame difficulties. 

Alc — According to this doctrine, all points may be 
alike maintained. There will be nothing abfurd in pope- 
ry, not even tranfubftantiation. 

Euph. — Pardon me. This doctrine juftifies no article 
of faith, which is not contained in fcripture, or which is 
repugnant to human reafon, which implies a contradic- 
tion, or which leads to idolatry or wickednefs of any kind : 
All which is very different from our not having a diilincl 
or an abftracl: idea of a point. 

. XVI. Alc— I will allow, Euphramr> this reafoning 
of yours to have all the force you meant it fhould have. 
I freely own there may be myfteries : That we may be- 



[Dial. VII.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 363 

lieve, where we do not under ft and : And that faith may 
be of ufe, although its object is not diftinctly apprehended. 
In a word, I grant there may be faith and myfteries in oth- 
er things, but not in religion : And that for this plain rea- 
fon : becaufe it is abfurd to fuppofe, there fhould be any 
fuch thing as religion : And if there be no religion, it fol- 
lows there cannot be religious faith or myfteries. Reli- 
gion, it is evident, implies the worfhip of a God, which 
worftiip, fuppofeth rewards and punifhments, which fuppofe 
merits and demerits, actions good and evil, and thefe fup- 
pofe human liberty, a thing impoffible : and confequently 
religion a thing built thereon, muft be an unreafonable ab- 
furd thing. There can be no rational fears where there 
is no guilt, nor any guilt where there is nothing done, 
but what unavoidably follows from the ftructure of 
the world and the laws of motion. Corporeal objects 
ftrike on the organs of fenfe, whence enfues a vibra- 
tion in the nerves, which being communicated to the foul, 
or animal fpirit in the brain or root of the nerves, produ- 
ceth therein that motion called volition : And this produ- 
ceth a new determination in the fpirits, caufing them to 
flow into fuch nerves as muft neceffarily by the laws of 
mechanifm produce fuch certain actions. This being the 
cafe, it follows, that thofe things, which vulgarly pafs for 
human actions, are to be efteemed mechanical, and that 
they are faifly afcribed to a free principle. There is, 
therefore, no foundation for praife or blame, fear or hope, 
reward or punifhment, nor confequently for religion, 
which, as I obferved before, is built upon and fuppofeth 
thofe things. 

Euph. — You imagine, Alciphron, if I rightly under- 
ftand you, that man is a fort of organ played on by out- 
ward objects, which according to the different fnape and 
texture of the nerves, produce different motions and effects 
therein. 



364 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. VII.] 

Alc. — Man may, indeed, be fitly compared to an or- 
gan : but a puppet is the very thing. You muft know, 
that certain particles iffuing forth in right lines from all fen- 
fible objects, compofe fo many rays, or filaments, which 
drive, draw, and actuate every part of the foul and bo- 
dy of man, juft as threads or wires do the joints of that 
little wooden machine vulgarly called a Puppet : With 
this only difference, that the latter are grofs and vifible to 
common eyes, whereas, the former are too fine and fubtle 
to be difcerned by any but a fagacious free-thinker. 
This admirably accounts for all thofe operations, which 
we have been taught to afcribe to a thinking principle 
within us. 

Euph. — -This is an ingenious thought, and muft be of 
great ufe in freeing men from all anxiety about moral no- 
tions, as it transfers the principle of action from the hu- 
man foul to things outward and foreign. But I have my 
fcruples about it. For you fuppofe the mind, in a literal 
fenfe, to be moved, and its volitions to be mere motions. 
Now, if another mould affirm, as it is not impofiible fome 
or other may, that the foul is incorporeal, and that mo- 
tion is one thing, and volition another, I would fain know 
how you could make your point clear to fuch a one. It 
muft be owned very clear to thofe, who admit the foul to 
be corporeal, and all her a&s to be but fo many motions. 
Upon this fuppofition, indeed, the light wherein you place 
human nature is no lefs true, than it is fine and new. But 
let any one deny this fuppofition, which is eafily done, and 
the whole fuperftruc~ture falls to the ground. If we grant 
the abovementioned points, I will not deny a fatal necefti- 
ty muft enfue. But I fee no reafon for granting them. 
On the contrary, it feems plain, that motion and thought 
are two things, as really and as manifeftly diftincl: as a 
triangle, and a found. It feems, therefore, that in or- 
der to prove the neceffity of human actions, you fuppofe 



[Dial. VII.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 365 

what wants proof as much as the very point to be proved. 

XVII. Alc. — But fuppofing the mind incorporeal, I 
{hall, neverthelefs, be able to prove my point. Not- to 
amufe you with far-fetched arguments, I mail only de- 
fire you to look into your own breaft, and obferve how 
things pafs there, when an object offers itfelf to the mind. 
Firft the underilanding confiders it : in the next place, the 
judgment decrees about it, as a thing to be chofen or re- 
jected, to be omitted or done, in this or that manner : 
And this decree of the judgment doth neceffarily deter- 
mine the will, whofe office is merely to execute what is 
ordained by another faculty : Confequently there is no 
fuch thing as freedom of the will. For that which is ne- 
ceffary, cannot be free. In freedom, there fhould be . an 
indifference to either fide of the queftion, a power to aft 
or not to act, without prefcription or control : and with- 
out this indifference and this power, it is evident, the will 
cannot be free. But it is no Iefs evident, that the will is 
not indifferent in its actions, being abfolutely determin- 
ed and governed by the judgment. Now whatever moves 
the judgment, whether the greateft prefent uneafinefs, 
or the greateft apparent good, or whatever elfe it be, it 
is all one to the point in hand. The will being ever con- 
cluded and controlled by the judgment, is in all cafes 
alike under neceffity. There is indeed, throughout the 
whole of human nature, nothing like a principle of free- 
dom, every faculty being determined in all its a£ts - by 
fomething foreign to it. The underftanding, for inftance, 
cannot alter its idea, but muft neceffarily fee it fuch as 
it prefents itfelf. The appetites, by a natural neceffity, 
are carried towards their refpec~tive objects. Reafcn 
cannot infer indifferently any thing from any thing, but 
is limitted by the nature and connexion of things, and 
the eternal rules of reafoning. And as this is confeffedly 



3 66 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. VII.] 

the cafe of all other faculties, (o it equally holds with re- 
fpect to the will itfelf, as hath been already fhewn. And 
if we may credit the divine characlerizer of our times, 
this, above all others, muft be allowed the moll flavifh 
faculty. " Appetite (faith that noble writer) which is el- 
der brother to reafon, being the lad of ftronger growth, 
is fure on every conteft to take the advantage of drawing 
all to his own fide : and will, fo highly boafted, is but 
at beft a foot-ball, or top, between thofe youngfters who 
prove very unfortunately matched, till the youngeft, in- 
ftead of now and then a kick or lafh, bellowed to little pur- 
pofe, forfakes the ball or top itfelf, and begins to lay 
about his elder brother." 

Cri. — This beautiful parable, for ftile and manner, 
might equal thofe of a known EngUJh writer, in low life, 
renowned for allegory, were it not a little incorrect, ma- 
king the weaker lad find his account in laying about the 
ftronger. 

Alc. — This is helped by fuppofing the ftronger lad the 
greater coward. But, be that as it will, fo far as it re- 
lates to the point in hand, this is a clear ftate of the cafe. 
The fame point may be alfo proved from the prefcience of 
God. That which is certainly foreknown, will certainly 
be. And what is certain, is neceffary. And neceffary ac- 
tions cannot be the effecl: of free-will. Thus you have 
this fundamental point of our free-thinking philofophy 
demonftrated different ways. 

Euph. — Tell me, Alciphron, do you think it implies a 
contradiction, that God mould make a creature free ? 

Alc— -I do not. 

Euph. — It is then poffible there may be fuch a thing. 

Alc. — This I do not deny. 

Euph.— You can, therefore, conceive and fuppofe fuch 
a free agent. 

Alc— Admitting that I can j what then? 



[Dial. VII.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 36*7 

Euph. — Would not fuch an one think that he acted ? 

Alc— He would. 

Euph.— And condemn himfelf for fome actions, and 
approve himfelf for others ? 

Alc— This too I grant. 

Euph.— Would he not think he deferved reward or 
punifhment ? 

Alc. — He would. 

Euph. — And are not all thefe characters actually 
found in man ? 

Alc. — They are. 

Euph. — Tell me now, what other character of your 
fuppofed free agent may not actually be found in man ? 
For if there is none fuch, we mult conclude, that man 
hath all the marks of a free agent. 

Alc — Let me fee ! I was certainly overfeen in grant- 
ing it poflible, even for Almighty Power, to make fuch 
a thing as a free-agent. I wonder how I came to make 
fuch an abfurd conceflion, after what had been, as I ob- 
ferved before, demonftrated fo many different ways. 

Euph. — Certainly whatever is poflible may be fuppof- 
ed : And whatever doth not imply a contradiction is pof- 
fible to an infinite power : Therefore if a rational agent 
implieth no contradiction, fuch a being may be fuppofed. 
Perhaps from this fuppofition I might infer man to be 
free : But I will not fuppofe him that free agent *, fince, 
it feems, you pretend to have demonftrated the contrary. 
O Alciphrotiy it is vulgarly obferved, that men judge of 
others by themfelves. But in judging of me by this 
rule, you may be miftaken. Many things are plain to 
one of your fagacity, which are not fo to me, who am 
often puzzled rather than enlightened by thofe very 
proofs, that, with you, pafs for clear and evident. And, 
indeed, be the inference never fo juft, yet fo long as the 
premifes are not clear, I cannot be thoroughly convinced. 



368 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. VII.] 

You muft give me leave, therefore, to propofe fome ques- 
tions, the folution of which, may perhaps, fhew what at 
prefent I am not able to difcern. 

Alc— I fhall leave what hath been faid with you, to 
coniider and ruminate upon. It is now time to fet out on 
our journey : there is, therefore, no room for a long 
firing of queflion and anfwer. 

XVIII. Euph. — I fhall then only beg leave in a fumma- 
ry manner, to make a remark or two on what you have 
advanced. In the firfl place, I obferve, you take that for 
granted which I cannot grant, when you aflert whatever 
is certain, the fame to be necefTary. To me, certain and 
necefTary feem very different ; there being nothing in the 
former notion that implies conftraint, nor confequently 
which may not confifl with a man's being accountable 
for his ad\ions. If it is forefeen that fuch an action fhall 
be done : may it not alfo be forefeen that it fhall 
be an effect of human choice and liberty ? In the next 
place, I obferve, that you very nicely abflract and diflin- 
guifh the actions of the mind, judgment, and will : That 
you make ufe of fuch terms as power, faculty, a£l, deter- 
mination, indifference, freedom, neceflity, and the like, 
as if they flood for diflincl: abftracT; ideas : And that this 
fuppofition feems to infnare the mind into the fame per- 
plexities and errors, which, in all other inflances, are cb- 
ferved to attend the doctrine of abflraclion. It is felf-evi- 
dent, that there is fuch a thing as motion : And yet there 
have . been found, philofophers, who, by refined reafon- 
ing, would undertake to prove there was no fuch thing. 
Walking before them was thought the proper way to con- 
fute thofe ingenious men. It is no lefs evident, that man 
is a free agent : And though by abftra£led reafonings you 
fhould puzzle me, and feem to prove the contrary, yet fo 
long as I am confcious of my own actions, this inward 
evidence of plain facl, will bear me up againft all your 



[Dial. VII.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 369 

reafonings, however fubtle and refined. The confuting 
plain points by obfeure ones, may perhaps convince me of 
the ability of your philofophers, but never of their tenets. 
I cannot conceive why the acute Cratylus fhould fuppofe 
a power of acting in the appetite and reafon, and none at 
all in the will. Allowing, I fay, the diftinction of three 
fuch beings in the mind, I do not fee how this could be 
true. But if I cannot abftract and diftinguifh fo many 
beings in the foul of man fo accurately as you do, I do 
not find it neceflary, Gnce it is evident to me in the grofs 
and concrete that I am a free agent. Nor will it avail to 
fay, the will is governed by the jtfdgment, or determined 
by the object, while, in every fudden common caufe, I 
cannot difcern nor abftract the decree of the judgment 
from the command of the will ; while I know the fenfible 
object to be abfolutely inert : And laftly, while I am con- 
fcious that I am an active being, who can and do deter- 
mine myfelf. If I fhould fuppofe things fpiritual to be 
corporeal, or refine things actual and real into general 
abftracted notions, or by metaphyfical ikill fplit things 
fimple and individual into manifold parts, I do not^know 
what may follow : But if I take things as they are, and 
afk any plain untutored man, whether he acts or is free 
in this or that particular action, he readily affents, and I 
as readily believe him from what I find within. And thus, 
by an induction of particulars, I may conclude man to 
be a free agent, although I may be puzzled to define or 
conceive a notion of freedom in general and abftract. 
And if man be free, he is plainly accountable. But if 
you fhall define, abftract, fuppofe, and it fhall follow 
that according to your definitions, abftractions, and fup- 
pofitions, there can be no freedom in man, and you fhall 
thence infer that he is not accountable, I fhall make bold 
to depart from your metaphyfical abftracted fenfe, and ap- 
peal to the common fenfe of mankind. 

Y y 



3)o MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. VII.] 

XIX. If we confider the notions that obtain in the 
world, of guilt and merit, praife and blame, accountable 
and unaccountable, we (hall find the common queftion in 
order to applaud or cenfure, acquit or condemn a man, is, 
whether he did fuch an action ? and whether he was him- 
felf when he did it ? Which comes to the fame thing. It 
mould feem, therefore, that in the ordinary commerce of 
mankind, any perfon is efteemed accountable fimply as he 
is an agent. And though you mould tell me that man is 
inactive, and that the fenfible objects a£fc upon him, yet 
my own experience afTures me of the contrary. I know 
I a£t, and what I a£t, I am accountable for. And if this 
be true, the foundation of religion and morality remains 
unfhaken. Religion, I fay, is concerned no farther than 
that man mould be accountable : And this he is according 
to my fenfe, and the common fenfe of the world, if he 
acts : And that he doth a£t is felf-evident. The grounds, 
therefore, and ends of religion are fecured : whether 
your philofophic notion of liberty agrees with man's ac- 
tions or no ; And whether his actions are certain or con- 
tingent ; the queftion being not whether he did it with a 
free will, or what determined his will ; not whether it 
was certain or foreknown that he would do it, but only 
whether he did it wilfully : As what muft intitle him to 
the guilt or merit of it. 

Alc. — But ftill the queftion recurs, whether man be 
free ? 

Euph.— To determine this queftion, ought we not firft 
to determine what is meant by the word free ? 

Alc — We ought. 

Euph. — In my opinion, a man is faid to be free, fo 
far forth as he can do what he will. Is this fo, or is it not ? 

Alc. — It feems fo. 

Euph. — Man, therefore, acting according to his will, is 
to be accounted free. 



[Dial. VII.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 371 

Alc. — This I admit to be true, in the vulgar fenfe. 
But a philofopher goes higher, and inquires whether man 
be free to will ? 

Euph. — That is, whether he can will as he wills ? I 
know not how philofophical it may be to afk this queftion, 
but it feems very idle. The notions of guilt, and merit, 
juftice, and reward, are in the minds of men, antecedent 
to all metaphyfical difquifitions : And according to thofe 
received natural notions, it is not doubted that man is ac- 
countable, that he acts, and is felt-determined. 

XX. But a Minute Philofopher (hall, in virtue of wrong 
fuppofitions, confound things moft evidently diftincl: ; bo- 
dy, for inftance, with fpirit, motion with volition, cer- 
tainty with necefiity ; and an abftra&er, or refiner, fhall fo 
analyfe the moft fimple inftantaneous act: of the mind, as 
to diftinguifh therein divers faculties and tendencies, prin- 
ciples and operations, caufes and effects ; and having ab- 
ftracted, fuppofed, and reafoned upon principles gratui- 
tous and obfcure, he will conclude it is no act at all, and 
man no agent, but a puppet, or an organ, played on by 
outward objects, and his will a top or a foot-ball. And 
this paffeth for philofophy and free-thinking. Perhaps this 
may be what it paffeth for, but it by no means feems a 
natural or juft way of thinking. To me it feems, that if 
we begin from things particular and concrete, and thence 
proceed to general notions and conclufions, there will be 
no difficulty in this matter. But if we begin with gen- 
eralities, and lay our foundation in abftracl: ideas, we mall 
find ourfelves intangled and loft in a labyrinth of our own 
making. I need not obferve, what every one muft fee, 
the ridicule of proving man no agent, and yet pleading for 
free thought and action, of fetting up at once for advo- 
cates of liberty and necefiity. I have haftily thrown to- 
gether thefe hints or remarks, on what you call a funda- 



37 2 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. VII.j 

mental article of the Minute Philofopby, and your meth^ 
od of proving it, which feems to furntui an admirable fpe- 
cimen of the fophiftry of abftract ideas. If in this fum- 
mary way, I have been more dogmatical than became me, 
you mufl excufe what you occafioned, by declining a joint 
and leifurely examination of the truth. 

Alc — I think we have examined matters fufficiently. 

Cri. — To all you have faid againft human liberty, it is 
a fufneient anfwer to obferve, that your arguments proceed 
upon an erroneous fuppofition either of the foul's being 
corporeal, or of abflracl: ideas : not to mention other grofs 
miftakes and gratuitous principles. You might as well 
fuppofe, that the foul is red or blue, as that it is folid. 
You might as well make the will any thing eUa as motion. 
And whatever you infer from fuch premifes, which (to 
fpeak in the fofteft manner) are neither proved nor probable, 
1 make no difficulty to reject. You difcinguifh in all hu- 
man actions between the lail decree of the judgment and 
the acl: of the will. You confound certainty with neceffi- 
ty. You inquire, and your inquiry amounts to an abfurd 
queftion : Whether man can will as he wills ? As evident- 
ly true as is this identical proposition, fo evidently falfe 
mud that way of thinking be, which led you to make a 
queftion of it. You fay, the appetites have by neceffity- 
of nature a tendency towards their refpe&ive objects. 
This we grant, and withal that appetite, if you pleafe, 
is not free. But you go farther, and tell us the underftand- 
ing cannot alter its idea, nor infer indifferently any thing 
from any thing. m What then ! Can we not acl; at all if 
we cannot alter the nature of objects, and may x we not 
be free in other things if we are not at liberty to make ab- 
furd inferences ? You take for granted, that the mind is 
Inactive, but that its ideas acl upon it : As if the contra- 
ry were not evident to every man of common fenfe, who 
cannot but know, that it is the mind which confiders its 



[Dial. VII.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 375 

ideas, choofes, rejects, examines, deliberates, decrees, in 
one word, acts about them, and not they about it. Upon 
the whole, your premifes being obfcure and falfe, the fun- 
damental point, which you pretend to demonftrate fo many 
different ways, proves neither fenfe nor truth in any. And, 
on the other hand, there is not need of much inquiry to be 
convinced of two points, than which none are more evi- 
dent, more obvious, and more univerfally admitted by men 
of all forts, learned or unlearned, in all times and places, 
to wit, that man acts and is accountable for his actions. 
Whatever abftracters, refiners, or men prejudiced to a 
falfe hypothecs may pretend, it is, if I miftake not, evi- 
dent to every thinking man of common fenfe, that human 
minds are fo far from being engines, or foot-balls, acted up- 
on and bandied about by corporeal objects, without any in- 
ward principle of freedom or action, that the only origi- 
nal true notions that we have of freedom, agent* or action, 
are obtained by reflecting on ourfelves, and the operations 
of our own minds. The finguiarity and credulity of Mi- 
nute Philofophers, who fuller themfelves to be abufed by 
the paralogifms of three or four eminent patriarchs of in- 
fidelity in the laft age, is, I think, not to be matched ; 
there being no inftance of bigotted fuperftition, the ring- 
leaders whereof have been able to fcduce their followers, 
more openly and more widely from the plain dictates of 
nature and common fenfe. 

XXI. Alc. — It has been always an objection againft 
the difcoverers of truth, that they depart from received 
opinions. The character of finguiarity is a tax on {i\zc,~ 
king : And as fuch we mod willingly bear it, and glo- 
ry in it. A genuine philofopher .is never modefc in a falfe 
fenfe, to the preferring authority before reafon, or an old 
and common opinion before a true one. Which falfe mod- 
?:ty> .ourages men from treading in untroden paths. 



374 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. VII.] 

or ftriking out new light, is above all other qualities the 
greateft enemy to free-thinking. 

Cri. — Authority in difputable points will have its weight 
with a judicious mind, which yet will follow evidence 
wherever it leads. Without preferring, we may allow it 
a good fecond to reafon. Your gentlemen, therefore, of 
the Minute Philofophy, may fpare a world of common 
place upon reafon, and light, and difcoveries. We are not 
attached to authority againft reafon, nor afraid of untroden 
paths that lead to truth, and are ready to follow a nem 
light, when we are fure it is no ignis fatuus. Reafon may 
oblige a man to believe againft his inclinations : But why 
fhould a man quit falutary notions, for others not lefs un- 
reafonable than pernicious ? Your fchemes, and princi- 
ples, and boafted demonftrations have been at large pro- 
pofed and examined. You have fhifted your notions, 
fucceffively retreated from one fcheme to another, and in 
the end renounced them all. Your objections have been 
treated in the fame manner, and with the fame event. If 
we except all that relates to the errors and faults of par- 
ticular perfons, and difficulties which, from the nature of 
things, we are not obliged to explain ; it is furprifing to 
fee, after fuch magnificent threats, how little remains, 
that can amount to a pertinent objection againft the chrif- 
tian religion. What you have produced has been tried by 
the fair tefl of reafon : AncJ though you mould hope to 
prevail by ridicule when you cannot by reafon, yet in the 
upfhot I apprehend you will find it impracticable to de- 
ftroy all fenfe of religion. Make your countrymen ever 
fo vicious, ignorant, and profane, men will ftill be difpo- 
fed to look up to a Supreme Being. Religion, right or 
wrong, will fubfift in fome fhape or other, and fome 
worfhip there will furely be, either of God or the 
creature. As for your ridicule, can any thing be more 
ridiculous, than to fee the moft unmeaning men of the 



[Dial. VII.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 375 

age fct up for free-thinkers, men fo ftrong in aflertion, 
and yet fo weak in argument, advocates for freedom intro- 
ducing a fatality, patriots trampling on the laws of their 
country, and pretenders to virtue deftroying the motives 
of it ? Let any impartial man but caft an eye on the opin- 
ions of the Minute Philofophers, and then fay if any 
thing can be more ridiculous, than to believe fuch things, 
and at the fame time laugh at credulity. 

XXII. Lys. — Say what you will, we have the laughers 
on our fide : And as for your reafoning, I take it to be an- 
other name for fophiftry. 

Cri.— And I fuppofe, by the fame rule, you take your 
own fophifms for arguments. To fpeak plainly, I know 
no fort of fophifm that is not employed by Minute Philo- 
fophers againft religion. They are guilty of a Petit 10 Prin- 
ciple in taking for granted that we believe contradictions ; 
of non Caufa pr& Caufa, in affirming that uncharitable feuds 
and difcords are the effects of chriftianity ; of Ignoratio 
elenchi) in expecting demonftration where we pretend on- 
ly to faith. If I was not afraid to offend the delicacy of 
polite ears, nothing were eafier than to aflign inftances of 
every kind of fophifm, which would fhew how fkilful 
your own philofophers are in the practice of that fophiftry 
you impute to others. 

Euph. — For my own part, if fophiftry be the art or 
faculty of deceiving other men, I muft acquit thefe gen- 
tlemen of it. They feem to have led me a progrefs through 
atheifm, libertinifm, enthufiafm, fatalifm, not to convince 
me of the truth of any of them, fo much as to confirm 
me in my own way of thinking. They have expofed their 
fairy ware not to cheat but divert us. As I know them 
to be profefTed mailers of ridicule, fo in a ferious fenfe I 
know not what to make of them. 



376 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. VII.3 

Alc-— You do not know what to make of us ! I mould 
be fony you did. He mutt be a fuperficial philofopher 
that is foon fathomed. 

XXIII. Cri. — The ambiguous character is, it feems, 
the fure way to fame and efteem in the learned world, as 
it {lands conftituted at prefent. When the ingenious read- 
er is at a lofs to determine whether his author be atheift or 
deift, or polytheift, ftoic or epicurean, fceptic or dogma- 
tift, infidel or enthufiaft, in jeft or in earned, he concludes 
him, without hefitation, to be enigmatical and profound. 
In fad!:, it is true of the moft admired writers of the age* 
that no man alive can tell what to make of them, or what 
they would be at. 

Alc. — We have among us, moles that dig deep under 
ground, and eagles that foar out of fight. We can a£fc 
all parts, and become all opinions, putting them on or off 
with great freedom cf wit and humor. 

Euph.- — It feems then, you are a pair of infcru table, un- 
fathomable, falhionable philofophers. 

Alc— It cannot be denied. 

Euph. — But, I remember, you fet out with an open 
dogmatical air, and talked cf plain principles, and evident 
reafoning, promifed to make things as clear as noon-day, 
to extirpate wrong notions, and plant right in their ftead. 
Soon after, you began to recede from your firft notions 
and adopt others ■: you advanced one while, and retreated 
another, yielded and retracted, faid and unfaid : And after 
having followed you through fo many untroden paths and 
intricate mazes, I find myfelf never the nearer. 

Alc— Did we not tell you, the gentlemen of our feci; 
are great proficients in raillery ? 

Euph. — But, methinks, it is a vain attempt, for a plain 
man of any fettled belief or principles to engage with fuch 
flippery, fugitive, changeable philofophers. It feems as if 



[Dial. VII.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 377 

a man fhould (land ftill in the fame place, while his adver- 
fary choofes and changes his fituation, lias full range and 
liberty to traverfe the field, and attack him on all fides, 
and in all fhapes, from a nearer or farther diftance, on 
horfeback or on foot, in light or heavy armour, in clofe 
fight or with miffive weapons. 

Alc. — It muft be owned, a gentlemen hath great ad- 
vantage over a ftrait-laced pedant, or bigot. 

Euph. — But after all, what am I the better for the con- 
verfation of two fuch knowing gentlemen ? I hoped to 
have unlearned my errors, and to have learned truths from 
you, but, to my great difappointment, I do not find that 
I am either untaught or taught. 

Alc.—- To unteach men their prejudices, is a difficult 
talk : And this muft firft be done, before we can pretend 
to teach them the truth. Befides, we have at prefent no 
time to prove and argue. 

Euph. — But fuppofe my mind white paper, and with- 
out being at any pains to extirpate my opinions, or prove 
your own, only fay what you would write thereon, or 
what you would teach me in cafe I were teachable. Be 
for once in earned, and let me know fome one conclufion 
of yours before we part : Or I (hall intreat Crito to violate 
the laws of hofpitality, towards thofe, who have violated 
the laws of philofophy, by hanging out falfe lights to one 
benighted in ignorance and error. I appeal to you (faid he, 
turning to Crito) whether thefe philosophical knight-errants 
fhould not be confined in this caftle of yours, till they 
make reparation. Euphranor has reafon, faid Crito y and 
my fentence is that you remain here in durance, till you 
have done fomething towards fatisfying the engagement I 
am under, having promifed, he fhould know your opin» 
ions from yourfelves, which you alfo agreed to. 

Z z 



378 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. VII.] 

XXIV. Alc. — Since it mud be fo, I will now reveal 
what I take to be the fum and fubftance, the grand arcan- 
um and ultimate conclufion of our feci;, and that in two 
words, PANTA UPOLEEPSIS. 

Cri.— You are then a downright fceptic. But, fceptic 
as you are, you own it probable there is a God, certain 
that the chriftian religion is ufeful, poflible it may be true, 
certain that if it be, the Minute Philofophers are in a bad 
way. This being the cafe, how can it be queilioned what 
courfe a wife man mould take ? "Whether the principles of 
chriftians or infidels are trued, may be made a queftion, 
but which are fafeft can be none. Certainly if you doubt 
of all opinions, you mud doubt of your own : And then 
for ought' you know, the chriftian may be true. The 
more doubt, the more room there is for faith, a fceptic, of 
all men, having the leaft right to demand evidence. But, 
whatever uncertainty there may be in other points, thus 
much is certain : Either there is, or is not a God : There 
is, or is not a revelation : Man either is, or is not an 
agent : The foul is, or is not immortal. If the negatives 
are not fure, the affirmatives are poflible. If the negatives 
are improbable, the affirmatives are probable. In propor- 
tion, as any of your ingenious men, finds himfelf unable 
to prove any one of thefe negatives, he hath grounds to 
fufpecl: he may be miftaken. A Minute Philofopher, 
therefore, that would acl: a confident part, mould have 
the diffidence, the modefty, and the timidity, as well as 
the doubts, of a fceptic ; not pretend to an ocean of light, 
and then lead us to an abyfs of darknefs. If I have any 
notion of ridicule, this is mod ridiculous. But your ridi- 
culing what, for ought you know, may be true, I can 
<nake no fenfe of. It is neither acting as a wife man, 
with regard to your own intereft, nor as a good man, with 
regard to that of your country. 






[Dial. VII.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 379 

XXV. Tully faith fome where, aut undique religtonem 
tolle aut ufquequaque conferva : Either let us have no religion 
at all, or let it be refpe£ted. If any fingle inftance can 
be (hewn of a people, that ever profpered without fome re- 
ligion, or if there be any religion, better than the chriftian, 
propofe it in the grand aflembly of the nation to change 
our conftitution, and either live without relgioin, or in- 
troduce that new religion. A fceptic, as well as other 
men, is member of a community, and can diftinguifh 
between good and evil, natural or political. Be this then 
his guide as a patriot, though he be no chriftian. Or, if 
he doth not pretend even to this difcernment, let him not 
pretend to correct or alter, what he knows nothing of: 
Neither let him that only doubts, behave as if he could de- 
monftrate. Timagoras is wont to fay, I find my country 
in pofleffion of certain tenets : They appear to have an 
ufeful tendency, and, as fuch, are encouraged by the legif- 
lature : They make a main part of our conftitution : I do 
not find thefe innovators can difprove them, or fubftitute 
things more ufeful and certain in their ftead : Out of re- 
gard, therefore, to the good of mankind, and the laws of 
my country, I (hall acquiefce in them. I do not fay 
Timagoras is a chriftian, but I reckon him a patriot. Not 
to inquire in a point of fo great concern, is folly, but it 
is ftill a higher degree of folly, to condemn without inquir- 
ing. Lyficles feemed heartily tired of this converfation. It 
is now late, faid he to Alciphron, and all things are ready 
for our departure. Every one hath his own way of think- 
ing : And it is as impoflible for me to adopt another man's, 
as to make his complexion and features mine. Alciphron 
pleaded that, having complied with Euphratior's conditions, 
they were now at liberty : And Euphranor anfwered that, 
all lie defired, having been to know their tenets, he had 
nothing further to pretend. 



3 8o MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. VII.} 

XXVI. The philosophers being gone, I obferved to 
Crito how unaccountable it was, that men fo eafy to con- 
fute flioulcl yet be fo difficult to convince. This> faid Crito, 
is accounted for by Arifiotle, who tells us that arguments 
have not an effetl: on all men, but only on them whofe 
minds are prepared by education and cuftom, as land is 
for Seed. # Make a point never fo clear, it is great odds, 
that a man, whofe habits and the bent of whofe mind lie 
a contrary way, (hall be unable to comprehend it. So 
weak a thing is reafon in competition with inclination. I 
replied, this anfwer might hold with refpect to other per- 
fons and other times : But when the queftion was of 
inquifitive men, in an age, wherein reafon was fo much 
cultivated, and thinking fo much in vogue, it did not feem 
fatisfa&ory. I have known it remarked, faid Crito, by a man 
of muchobfervation, that in the prefent age, thinking is more 
talked of, but lefs pra&ifed, than in ancient times : And that 
fince the revival of learning, men have read much and 
wrote much, but thought little : Infomuch that with us to 
'think clofely and juftly, is the leaft part of a learned man, 
and none at all of a polite man. The free-thinkers, it 
muft be owned, make great pretentions to thinking, and 
yet they (hew but little exa&nefs in it. A lively man, 
and what the world calls a man of fenfe, are often deftitute 
of this talent j which is not a mere gift of nature, but 
muft be improved and perfected, by much attention and 
exercife on very different fubjecls : A thing of more pains 
and time, than the hafty men of parts in our age care to 
take. Such were the fentiments of a judicious friend : 
And, if you are not already fufficiently convinced of thefe 
truths, you need only caft an eye on the dark and confut- 
ed, but neverthelefs admired writers of this famous feci: : 
And then you will be able to judge, whether thofe 

* Ethic ad Nicom, i, 10. c, 9. 



[Dial. VII.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 381 

who are led by men of fuch wrong heads, can have very- 
good ones of their own. Such, for inftance, was Spinofa, 
the great leader of our modern infidels, in whom are to 
be found many fchemes and notions, much admired and 
followed of late years : Such as undermining religion, 
under the pretence of vindicating and explaining it : The 
maintaining it, not neceflary to believe in Chrift according 
to the fiefh : The perfuading men, that miracles are to be 
underftood only in a fpiritual and alegorical fenfe : That 
vice is not fo bad a thing as we are apt to think : That men 
are mere machines, impelled by fatal neceffity. I have 
heard, faid I, Spinofa reprefented as a man of clofe argu- 
ment and demonftration. He did, replied Crito, demon- 
ftrate ; but it was after fuch a manner, as any one may 
demonftrate any thing- Allow a man the privilege to 
make his own definitions of common words, and it will 
be no hard matter for him to infer conclufions, which in 
one fenfe fhall be true, and in another falfe, at once 
feeming paradoxes and manifeft truifms. For example, 
let but Spinofa define natural right to be natural power, 
and he will eafily demonftrate, that whatever a man can 
do y he hath a right to do. * Nothing can be plainer than 
the folly of this proceeding ; but our pretenders to the 
lumen Jiccum, are fo paflionately prejudiced againft reli- 
gion, as to fwallow the grofieft nonfenfe and fophiftry 
of weak and wicked writers for demonftration. 

XXVII. And fo great a noife do thefe men make, with 
their thinking, reafoning, and demonftrating, as to prej- 
udice fome well-meaning perfons againft all ufe and im- 
provement of reafon. Hone ft Demea, having feen a 
neighbor of his ruined by the vices of a free-thinking 
fon, contracted fuch a prejudice againft thinking, that 
he would not fulFer his own to read Euc/id, being told it 

• Tradlat. Politic, c. s. 



3 8a MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. VII.] 

might teach him to think ; till a friend convinced him 
the epidemical diftemper was not thinking, but only the 
want and affectation of it. I know an eminent free- 
thinker, who never goes to bed, without a gallon of wine 
in his belly, and is fure to replenifh before the fumes are 
off his brain, by which means he has not had one fober 
thought thefe feven years ; another, that would not for 
the world, lofe the privilege and reputation of free-think- 
ing, who games all night, and lies in bed all day : And 
as for the outfide, or appearance of thought in that mea- 
gre Minute Philofopher, Ibycus, it is an efFecl:, not of 
thinking, but of carking, cheating, and writing in an 
office. Strange, faid he, that fuch men fhould fet up 
for free-thinkers ! But it is yet more ftrange, that other 
men fhould be out of conceit with thinking and reafon- 
ing, for the fake of fuch pretenders. I anfwered, that 
fome good men conceived an oppofition between reafon 
and religion, faith and knowledge, nature and grace ; 
and that, confequently, the way to promote religion, 
was to quench the light of nature, and difcourage all 
rational inquiry. 

XXVIII. How right the intentions of thefe men may be, 
replied Crito, I fhall not fay ; but furely their notions are 
very wrong. Can any thing be more difhonorable to re- 
ligion, than the reprefenting it as an unreafonable, unnat- 
ural, ignorant inftitution ? God is the Father of all lights, 
whether natural or revealed. Natural concupifence is one 
thing, and the light of nature another. You cannot, 
therefore, argue from the former againfl the latter : Nei- 
ther can you from fcience, falfely fo called, againfl real 
knowledge. Whatever, therefore, is faid of the one in 
Holy Scripture, is not to be interpreted of the other. I 
infilled that human learning in the hands of divines, had 
from time to time created great difputes and divifions in 



[Dial. VIL] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 383 

the church. As abftratted mfitaphyfics, replied Crito, 
have always had a tendency to produce difputes among 
chriftians, as well as other men \ fo it mould feem, that 
genuine truth and knowledge would allay this humor, 
which makes men facrifice the undifputed duties of peace 
and charity to difputable notions. After all, faid I, what- 
ever may be faid for reafon, it is plain, the fceptics and 
infidels of the age are not to be cured by it. I will not 
difpute this point, faid Crito ; in order to cure a diftem- 
per, you mould confider what produced it. Had men 
reafoned themfelves into a wrong opinion, one might hope 
to reafon them out of it. But this is not the cafe *, the 
infidelity of Minute Philofophers feeming an effe£t of 
very different motives from thought and reafon. Little 
incidents, vanity, difguft, humor, inclination, without 
the leaft afliftance from reafon, are often known to make 
infidels. Where the general tendency of a doctrine is 
difagreeable, the mind is prepared to relifh and improve 
every thing that with the leaft pretence feems to make 
againft it. Hence the coarfe manners of a country cu- 
rate, the polite manners of a chaplain, the wit of a Mi- 
nute Philofopher, a jeft, a fong, a tale can ferve inflead 
of a reafon for infidelity. Bupalus preferred a rake in the 
church, and then made ufe of him as an argument againft 
it. Vice, indolence, faction, and fafhion produce Mi- 
nute Philofophers, and mere petulancy, not a few.— • 
Who then can expect a thing fo irrational and capricious 
fhould yield to reafon ? It may, neverthelefs, be worth 
while to argue againft fuch men, and expofe their falla- 
cies, if not for their own fake, yet for the fake of others ; 
as it may lefTen their credit, and prevent the growth of 
their fe£t, by removing a prejudice in their favor, which 
fometimes inclines others as well as themfelves to think 
they have made a monopoly of human reafon. 



384 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. VII.] 

XXIX. The mod general pretext which looks like 
reafon, is taken from the variety of opinions about re- 
ligion. This is a reding {tone to a hzy and fuperficial 
mind. But one of more fpirit and a jufter way of 
thinking, makes it a ftep whence he looks about, and 
proceeds to examine, and compare the differing inftitu- 
tions of religion. He will obferve, which of thefe is 
the mod fublime and rational in its doctrines, molt ven- 
erable in its myderies, moil ufeful in its precepts, naoft 
decent in its worfhip ? Which createth the noble ft hopes, 
and moil worthy views ? He will confider their rife and 
progrefs, which oweth leaft to human arts or arms ? 
Which flatters the fenfes and grofs inclinations of men ? 
Which adorns and improves the moil excellent part of 
our nature ? Which hath been propagated in the mod 
wonderful manner ? Which hath furmounted the greated 
difficulties, or mewed the moft difinterefted zeal and fin- 
cerity in its profeflbrs ?* He will inquire, which bed 
accords with nature and hiftory ? He will confider, what 
favours of the . world, and what looks like wifdom from 
above ? He will be careful to feparate human allay from 
that which is divine ; and upon the whole, form his 
judgment like a reafonable free-thinker. But inftead of 
taking fuch a rational courfe, one of thofe hady^fceptics 
{hall conclude without demurring, that there is no wif- 
dom in politics, no honefty in dealings, no knowledge in 
philofophy, no truth in religion : And all by one and the 
fame fort of inference, from the numerous examples of 
folly, knavery, ignorance, and error, which are to be 
met with in the world. But, as thofe, who are unknow- 
ing in every thing elfe, imagine themfelves (harp-fighted 
in religion, this learned fophifm is oftened levelled againft 
chriftianity. 



[Dial. VU] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 385 

XXX. In my opinion, he that would convince an 
infidel, who can be brought to reafon, ought in the firft: 
place, clearly to convince him of the being of a God, it 
feeming to me, that any man, who is really a theift, can- 
not be an enemy to the chriftian religion : And that the 
ignorance or difbelief of this fundamental point, is that 
which, at bottom, conftitutes the Minute Philofopher. 
I imagine they, who are acquainted with the great authors 
In the Minute Philofophy, need not be told of this. The 
being of a God is capable of clear proof, and a proper 
object of human reafon : whereas, the myfleries of his 
nature, and indeed, whatever there is of myftery in re- 
ligion, to endeavor to explain and prove by reafon, is a 
vain attempt. It is fufficient, if we can (hew there is 
nothing abfurd, or repugnant in our belief of thofe 
points, and, inftead of framing hypothefis to explain 
them, we ufe our reafon only for anfwering the objec- 
tions brought again ft them. But, on all occafions, we 
ought to diftinguifh the ferious, modeft, ingenuous man 
of fenfe, who hath fcruples about religion, and behaves 
like a prudent man in doubt, from the Minute Philofo- 
phers, thofe profane and conceited men, who mull needs 
profelyte others to their own doubts. When one of this 
{tamp prefents himfelf, we mould confider what fpecies 
he is of : Whether a firft or a fecond-hand philofopher, 
a libertine, fcorner, or fceptic ? Each chara&er requiring 
a peculiar treatment. Some men are too ignorant to be 
humble, without which, there can be no docility : But 
though a man muft, in fome degree, have thought, and 
confidered, to be capable of being convinced, yet it is 
poflible the moil ignorant may be laughed out of his 
opinions. I knew a woman of fenfe, reduce two Mi- 
nute Philofophers, who had been long a nuifance to the 
neighborhood, by taking her cue from their predominant 
affectations. The one fet up for the moft incredulous 
A a a 



3 8<5 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. VIL] 

man upon earth, the other for the mod unbounded free- 
dom. She obferved to the firft, that he, who had cre- 
dulity fufhcient to truft the moft valuable things, his life 
and fortune, to his apothecary and lawyer, ridiculoufly 
affe£ted the character of incredulous, by refufing to 
truft his foul, a thing in his own account but a mere tri- 
fle, to his parifh-prieft. The other being what you call a 
beau, fhe made fenfible how abfolute a flave he was in 
point of drefs, to him the moft important thing in the 
world, while he was earneftly contending for a liberty of 
thinking, with which he never troubled his head ; and, 
how much more it concerned, and became him, to aflert 
an independency on fafhion, and obtain fcope for his" 
genius, where it was beft qualified to exert itfelf. The 
Minute Philosophers, at firft hand, are very few, and, 
confidered in themfelves, of fmall confequence : But their 
followers, who pin their faith upon them, are numerous, 
and not lefs confident than credulous ; there being fome- 
thing in the air and manner of thefe fecond-hand philo- 
fophers, very apt to difconcert a man of gravity and* ar- 
gument, and much more difficult to be bore than the 
weight of their objections. 

XXXI. Crito having made an end, Euphranor declar* 
ed it to be his opinion, that it would much conduce to 
the public benefit, if, inftead cf difcouraging free-think- 
ing, there was erected in the midft of this free country, 
a dianoetic academy, or feminary for free-thinkers, pro- 
vided with retired chambers, and galleries, and fhady 
walks, and groves •, where, after feven years fpent in 
filence and meditation, a man might commence a genuine 
free-thinker, and from that time forward, have licence to 
think what he pleafed, and a badge to diftinguifh him 
from counterfeits. In good earneft, faid Crito y I ima- 
gine that thinking is the great deftderatum of the prefent 



[Dial. VII.] MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. 387 

age : and that the real caufe of whatever js amifs, may 
juftly be reckoned the general neglect of education, in 
thofe who need it molt, the people of fafliion. What 
can be expected where thofe, who have the mod influence, 
have the leaft fenfe, and thofe who are lure to be follow- 
ed, fct the word example ? Where youth fa uneducated 
are yet fo forward ? Where modefty is efteemed pufilla- 
nimity, and a deference to years, knowledge, religion, 
laws, want of fenfe and fpirit ? Such untimely growth 
of genius would not have been valued, or encouraged by 
the wife men of antiquity ; whofe fentiments on this point 
are fo ill fuited to the genius of our times, that it is to be 
feared, modern ears could not bear them. But, how- 
ever ridiculous fuch maxims might feem to our Britijh 
youth, who are fo capable and fo forward to try experi- 
ments, and mend the conftitution of their country : I 
believe it will be admitted by men of fenfe, that if the 
governing part of mankind, would in thefe days, for ex- 
periment's fake, confider themfelves in that old Homerical 
light as paftors of the people, whofe duty it was to im- 
prove their flock, they would foon find, that this is to be 
done by an education, very different from the modern, 
and otherguefs maxims, than thofe of the Minute Philo- 
fophy. If our youth were really inured to thought and 
reflexion, and an acquaintance with the excellent writers 
of antiquity, we mould fee that licentious humour, vul- 
garly called free-thinkings banilhed from the pre fence of 
gentlemen, together with ignorance and ill tafte ; which, 
as they are infeparable from vice, fo men follow vice for 
the fake of pleafure, and fly from virtue, through an ab- 
horrence of pain. Their minds, therefore, betimes fhould 
be formed and accuftomed to receive pleafure and pain 
from proper objects, or, which is the fame thing, 
to have their inclinations and averfions rightly placed. 
Kalos chairein e mifein. This, according to Plato and 



388 MINUTE PHILOSOPHER. [Dial. VIL] 

Ar'tflotky was the crthe paideia, the right education. * 
And thofe, who, in their own minds, their health, or 
their fortunes, feel the curfed effects of a wrong one, 
would do well to confider, they cannot better make 
amends for what was amifs in themfelves, than by pre- 
venting the fame in their pofterity. While Crito was 
faying this, company came in, which put an end to our 
converfation. 

* Plato in Protag. & Ariftot. ethic, ad Nicom. 1. %. c. a. & 
l 10. c. 9. 



FINIS. 



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JP AMILY BIBLES, folio, with references, apocrypha, 
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of the Old and New Teftaments, 6 Vols. 4to. 

Macknight on the Epiftles, v/ith notes, philofophical, 
critical, explanatory and practical, 3 Vols. 4to. 

Cruden's & Butterworth's Complete Concordances of 
the Holy Scriptures, 410. and 8vo. lateft editions. 

Owen's Expofition of the Epiftles to the Hebrews, with 
a full and interesting Life of the Author. 4 Vols. 8vo. 

Newton's Works, containing Letters, Sermons, Cardi- 
phonia, Mefliah, a Review of Ecc. Hiftory, Hymns, 
and Mifcellaneous Pieces, 9 Vols. i2mo. 

Doddridge's Family Expofitor, with critical notes and 
improvement of each fe£Hon, and the Life of the Au- 
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's Lectures on the principal fubje£ts in Pneuma- 

tology, Ethics, and Divinity, with references to the 
mod confiderable Authors on each fubje6t, 2 Vols. 8vo. 

Leighton's Expofitory Works on the firft Epiftle of Peter, 
with other remains, 2 Vols. 8vo. 

More's (Hannah) Works complete in 8 Vols. 1 2mo. 

Guye's Practical Expofitor, with notes, 6 Vols. 8vo. 

Erskine's Works, confiding of Sermons and Poems, 10 

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Mosheim's Ecclefiaftical Hiftory, antient and modern, with 
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BOOKS. 

Stackhouse's Hiftory of the Bible, 6 Vols. 8vo. 

Clarke on the Gofpels, Boudinot's Age of Revelation, 

Willison's Works. 

Sermons and Discourses— -Blair's— Sawrin's Bouda- 

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various others. 

Willich's Domeftic Encyclopedia, 4 Vols. 8vo. 

Anacharsis' Travels, with one Vol. of Maps. 4 Vols. 8vo. 

Henry's Hiftory of Great Britain, 6 Vols. 8vo. 

New System of Natural Hiftory, 6 Vols. 8vo. 

Rollin's Antient Hiftory, 1© Vols. 121*10. 

Gregory's Economy of Nature, 5 Vols. 8vo. 

Medical Extracts, with numerous Plates, 4 Vols. 8vo. 

Furguson's Roman Republic. 5 Vols. 8vo. 

Watson's Philip 2d. and 3d. 5 Vols'. 8vo. 

Robison's America-^-Charles 5th,— Scotland— and India;, 
11 Vols. 8vo. 

Chalmer's Eftimate, 1 Vol. 8vo. 

Adams' Philofophical Lectures, 5 Vols. 8vo. 

Burke's Works, 3 Vols. 8vo. 

Bissot's Life of Burke, 2 Vols. 8vo. 

Gibbon's Rife and fall of the Roman Empire. 12 Vols. 8vo. 

Shakespeare's Works, various editions. 

Heron's Journey, 2 Vols. 8vo. 

The Federalist, new edition, 2 Vols. 8vo. 

Murphy's Tacitus, 4 Vols. 8vp. 

Garnett's Annals of Philofophy, 8 Vols. 8vo. 

Curiosities of Literature, 1 Vol. 8vo. 

Young's Hiftory of France, 3 Vols. 8vo. 

Pausaneous' Hiftory of Greece, 3 Vols. 8vo. 

Goldsmith's Rome— -England and Greece — The Poetic 
Works of Pope — Milton — Young— Thompfon — Barnes 
Gray— Cowper — Dryden— Beatie — Bloomfield — Fal- 
coner — Pomphret— Blair — Jchnfon, and various others. 



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